He spent the morning on Fifth Avenue and on Broadway, wandering aimlessly, gazing into the shop windows and watching the passing crowds. He gradually assimilated the casual gait and manners of a visitor from out of town, and when he tested himself out in a few shops and asked the way of several people he found that nobody looked at him twice.
He had a typical American meal at an eating house called 'Gloryfried Ham-N-Eggs' ('The Eggs We Serve Tomorrow Are Still in the Hens') on Lexington Avenue and then took a cab downtown to police headquarters, where he was due to meet Leiter and Dexter at 2.30.
A Lieutenant2 Binswanger of Homicide, a suspicious and crusty officer in his late forties, announced that Commissioner3 Monahan had said that they were to have complete co-operation from the Police Department. What could he do for them? They examined Mr. Big's police record, which more or less duplicated Dexter's information, and they were shown the records and photographs of most of his known associates.
They went over the reports of the US Coastguard Service on the comings and goings of the yacht Secatur and also the comments of the US Customs Service, who had kept a close watch on the boat each time she had docked at St. Petersburg.
These confirmed that the yacht had put in at irregular intervals4 over the previous six months and that she always tied up in the Port of St. Petersburg at the wharf5 of the 'Ourobouros Worm and Bait Shippers Inc.', an apparently6 innocent concern whose main business was to sell live bait to fishing clubs throughout Florida, the Gulf7 of Mexico and further afield. The company also had a profitable sideline in sea-shells and coral for interior decoration, and a further sideline in tropical aquarium8 fish-particularly rare poisonous species for the research departments of medical and chemical foundations.
According to the proprietor9, a Greek sponge-fisher from the neighbouring Tarpon Springs, the Secatur did big business with his company, bringing in cargoes10 of queen conchs and other shells from Jamaica and also highly prized varieties of tropical fish. These were purchased by Ourobouros Inc., stored in their warehouse11 and sold in bulk to wholesalers and retailers12 up and down the coast. The name of the Greek was Papagos. No criminal record.
The FBI, with the help of Naval13 Intelligence, had tried listening in to the Secatur's wireless14. But she kept off the air except for short messages before she sailed from Cuba or Jamaica and then transmitted en clair in a language which was unknown and completely indecipherable. The last notation15 on the file was to the effect that the operator was talking in 'Language', the secret Voodoo speech only used by initiates16, and that every effort would be made to hire an expert from Haiti before the next sailing.
'More gold been turning up lately,' announced Lieutenant Binswanger as they walked back to his office from the Identification Bureau across the street. '
'Bout17 a hundred coins a week in Harlem and New York alone. Want us to do anything about it? If you're right and these are Commie funds, they must be pulling it in pretty fast while we sit on our asses18 doin' nothing.'
'Chief says to lay off,' said Dexter. 'Hope we'll see some action before long.'
'Well, the case is all yours,' said Binswanger grudgingly19. 'But the Commissioner sure don't like having this bastard21 crappin' away on his own front doorstep while Mr. Hoover sits down in Washington well to leeward22 of the stink23. Why don't we pull him in on tax evasion24 or misuse25 of the mails or parkin' in front of a hydrant or sumpn? Take him down to the Tombs and give'em the works? If the Feds won't do it, we'd be glad to oblige.'
'D'you want a race riot?' objected Dexter sourly. 'There's nothing against him and you know it, and we know it. If he wasn't sprung in half an hour by that black mouthpiece of his, those Voodoo drums would start beating from here to the Deep South. When they're full of that stuff we all know what happens. Remember '35 and '43? You'd have to call out the Militia26. We didn't ask for the case. The President gave it us and we've got to stick with it.'
They were back in Binswanger's drab office. They picked up their coats and hats.
'Anyway, thanks for the help, Lootenant,' said Dexter with forced cordiality, as they made their farewells. 'Been most valuable.'
'You're welcome,' said Binswanger stonily27. 'Elevator's to your right.' He closed the door firmly behind them.
Leiter winked28 at Bond behind Dexter's back. They rode down to the main entrance on Centre Street in silence.
On the sidewalk, Dexter turned to them.
'Had some instructions from Washington this morning,' he said unemotionally. 'Seems I'm to look after the Harlem end, and you two are to go down to St. Petersburg tomorrow. Leiter's to find out what he can there and then move right on to Jamaica with you, Mr. Bond. That is,' he added, 'if you'd care to have him along. It's your territory.'
'Of course,' said Bond. 'I was going to ask if he could come anyway.'
'Fine,' said Dexter. Then I'll tell Washington everything's fixed29. Anything else I can do for you? All communications with FBI, Washington, of course. Leiter's got the names of our men in Florida, knows the Signals routine and so forth30.'
'If Leiter's interested and if you don't mind,' said Bond, 'I'd like very much to get up to Harlem this evening and have a look round. Might help to have some idea of what it looks like in Mr. Big's back yard.'
Dexter reflected.
'Okay,' he said finally. 'Probably no harm. But don't show yourselves too much. And don't get hurt,' lie added. 'There's no one to help you up there. And don't go stirring up a lot of trouble for us. This case isn't ripe yet. Until it is, our policy with Mr. Big is "live and let live".'
Bond looked quizzically at Captain Dexter.
'In my job,' he said, 'when I come up against a man like this one, I have another motto. It's "live and let die".'
Dexter shrugged31 his shoulders. 'Maybe,' he said, 'but you're under my orders here, Mr. Bond, and I'd be glad if you'd accept them.'
'Of course,' said Bond, 'and thanks for all your help. Hope you have luck with your end of the job.'
Dexter flagged a cab. They shook hands.
'Bye, fellers,' said Dexter briefly32. 'Stay alive.' His cab pulled out into the uptown traffic.
Bond and Leiter smiled at each other.
'Able guy, I should say,' said Bond.
They're all that in his show,' said Leiter. 'Bit inclined to be stuffed shirts. Very touchy33 about their rights. Always bickering34 with us or with the police. But I guess you have much the same problem in England.'
'Oh of course,' said Bond. 'We're always rubbing MI 5 up the wrong way. And they're always stepping on the corns of the Special Branch. Scotland Yard,' he explained. 'Well, how about going up to Harlem tonight?'
'Suits me,' said Leiter. 'I'll drop you at the St. Regis and pick you up again about six-thirty. Meet you in the King Cole Bar, on the ground floor. Guess you want to take a look at Mr. Big,' he grinned. 'Well, so do I, but it wouldn't have done to tell Dexter so.' He flagged a Yellow Cab.
'St. Regis Hotel. Fifth at 55th.'
They climbed into the overheated tin box reeking35 of last week's cigar-smoke.
Leiter wound down a window.
'Whaddya want ter do?' asked the driver over his shoulder. 'Gimme pneumony?'
'Just that,' said Leiter, 'if it means saving us from this gas chamber36.'
'Wise guy, hn?' said the driver, crashing tinnily through his gears. He took the chewed end of a cigar from behind his ear and held it up. 'Two bits for three,' he said in a hurt voice.
'Twenty-four cents too much,' said Leiter. The rest of the drive was passed in silence.
They parted at the hotel and Bond went up to his room. It was four o'clock. He asked the telephone operator to call him at six. For a while he looked out of the window of his bedroom. To his left, the sun was setting in a blaze of colour. In the skyscrapers37 the lights were coming on, turning the whole town into a golden honeycomb. Far below the streets were rivers of neon lighting38, crimson39, blue, green. The wind sighed sadly outside in the velvet40 dusk, lending his room still more warmth and security and luxury. He drew the curtains and turned on the soft lights over his bed. Then he took off his clothes and climbed between the fine percale sheets. He thought of the bitter weather in the London streets, the grudging20 warmth of the hissing41 gas-fire in his office at Headquarters, the chalked-up menu on the pub he had passed on his last day in London: 'Giant Toad42 & 2 Veg.'
He stretched luxuriously43. Very soon he was asleep.
Up in Harlem, at the big switchboard, 'The Whisper' was dozing44 over his racing45 form. All his lines were quiet. Suddenly a light shone on the right of the board - an important light.
'Yes, Boss,' he said softly into his headphone. He couldn't have spoken any louder if he had wished to. He had been born on 'Lung Block', on Seventh Avenue, at 142nd Street, where death from TB is twice as high as anywhere in New York. Now, he only had part of one lung left.
'Tell all "Eyes",' said a slow, deep voice,' to watch out from now on. Three men.' A brief description of Leiter, Bond and Dexter followed. 'May be coming in this evening or tomorrow. Tell them to watch particularly on First to Eight and the other Avenues. The night spots too, in case they're missed coming in. They're not to be molested46. Call me when you get a sure fix. Got it?'
'Yes, Sir, Boss,' said The Whisper, breathing fast. The voice went quiet. The operator took the whole handful of plugs, and soon the big switchboard was alive with winking47 lights. Softly, urgently, he whispered on into the evening.
At six o'clock Bond was awakened48 by the soft burr of the telephone. He took a cold shower and dressed carefully. He put on a garishly49 striped tie and allowed a broad wedge of bandana to protrude50 from his breast pocket. He slipped the chamois leather holster over his shirt so that it hung three inches below his left armpit. He whipped at the mechanism51 of the Beretta until all eight bullets lay on the bed. Then he packed them back into the magazine, loaded the gun, put up the safety-catch and slipped it into the holster.
He picked up the pair of Moccasin casuals, felt their toes and weighed them in his hand. Then he reached under the bed and pulled out a pair of his own shoes he had carefully kept out of the suitcase full of his belongings52 the FBI had taken away from him that morning.
He put them on and felt better equipped to face the evening.
Under the leather, the toe-caps were lined with steel.
At six twenty-five he went down to the King Cole Bar and chose a table near the entrance and against the wall. A few minutes later Felix Leiter came in. Bond hardly recognized him. His mop of straw-coloured hair was now jet black and he wore a dazzling blue suit with a white shirt and a black-and-white polka-dot tie.
Leiter sat down with a broad grin.
'I suddenly decided53 to take these people seriously,' he explained. 'This stuff's only a rinse54. It'll come off in the morning. I hope,' he added.
Leiter ordered medium-dry Martinis with a slice of lemon peel. He stipulated55 House of Lords gin and Martini Rossi. The American gin, a much higher proof than English gin, tasted harsh to Bond. He reflected that he would have to be careful what he drank that evening.
'We'll have to keep on our toes, where we're going,' said Felix Leiter, echoing his thoughts. 'Harlem's a bit of a jungle these days. People don't go up there any more like they used to. Before the war, at the end of an evening, one used to go to Harlem just as one goes to Montmartre in Paris. They were glad to take one's money. One used to go to the Savoy Ballroom56 and watch the dancing. Perhaps pick up a high-yaller and risk the doctor's bills afterwards. Now that's all changed. Harlem doesn't like being stared at any more. Most of the places have closed and you go to the others strictly57 on sufferance. Often you get tossed out on your ear, simply because you're white. And you don't get any sympathy from the police either.'
Leiter extracted the lemon peel from his Martini and chewed it reflectively. The bar was filling up. It was warm and companionable - a far cry, Leiter reflected, from the inimical, electric climate of the negro pleasure-spots they would be drinking in later.
'Fortunately,' continued Leiter, 'I like the negroes and they know it somehow. I used to be a bit of an aficionado58 of Harlem. Wrote a few pieces on Dixieland Jazz for the Amsterdam News, one of the local papers. Did a series for the North American Newspaper Alliance on the negro theatre about the time Orson Welles put on his Macbeth with an all-negro cast at the Lafayette. So I know my way about up there. And I admire the way they're getting on in the world, though God knows I can't see the end of it.'
They finished their drinks and Leiter called for the check.
'Of course there are some bad ones,' he said. 'Some of the worst anywhere. Harlem's the capital of the negro world. In any half a million people of any race you'll get plenty of stinkeroos. The trouble with our friend Mr. Big is that he's the hell of a good technician, thanks to his oss and Moscow training. And he must be pretty well organized up there.'
Leiter paid. He shrugged his shoulders.
'Let's go,' he said. 'We'll have ourselves some fun and try and get back in one piece. After all, this is what we're paid for. We'll take a bus on Fifth Avenue. You won't find many cabs that want to go up there after dark.'
They walked out of the warm hotel and took the few steps to the bus stop on the Avenue.
It was raining. Bond turned up the collar of his coat and gazed up the Avenue to his right, towards Central Park, towards the dark citadel59 that housed The Big Man.
Bond's nostrils60 flared61 slightly. He longed to get in there after him. He felt strong and compact and confident. The evening awaited him, to be opened and read, page by page, word by word.
In front of his eyes, the rain came down in swift, slanting62 strokes - italic script across the unopened black cover that hid the secret hours that lay ahead.
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1
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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5
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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aquarium
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| n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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cargoes
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| n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负 | |
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warehouse
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| n.仓库；vt.存入仓库 | |
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retailers
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| 零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 ) | |
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13
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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14
wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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15
notation
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| n.记号法，表示法，注释；[计算机]记法 | |
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16
initiates
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| v.开始( initiate的第三人称单数 )；传授；发起；接纳新成员 | |
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17
bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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asses
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| n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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19
grudgingly
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grudging
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| adj.勉强的，吝啬的 | |
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bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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leeward
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| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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stink
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| vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭 | |
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24
evasion
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| n.逃避，偷漏(税) | |
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misuse
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| n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用 | |
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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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stonily
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| 石头地，冷酷地 | |
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28
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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29
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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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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touchy
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| adj.易怒的；棘手的 | |
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bickering
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| v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁 | |
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35
reeking
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的现在分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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skyscrapers
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| n.摩天大楼 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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41
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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42
toad
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆 | |
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43
luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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44
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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45
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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46
molested
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| v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵 | |
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47
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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48
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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49
garishly
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| adv.鲜艳夺目地，俗不可耐地；华丽地 | |
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50
protrude
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| v.使突出，伸出，突出 | |
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51
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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52
belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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53
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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54
rinse
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| v.用清水漂洗，用清水冲洗 | |
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55
stipulated
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| vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的 | |
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56
ballroom
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| n.舞厅 | |
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57
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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58
aficionado
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| n.…迷；运动迷 | |
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59
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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60
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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61
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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62
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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