"There's a constable4 in possession," said Baynes. "I'll knock at the window." He stepped across the grass plot and tapped with his hand on the pane5. Through the fogged glass I dimly saw a man spring up from a chair beside the fire, and heard a sharp cry from within the room. An instant later a white-faced, hard-breathing policeman had opened the door, the candle wavering in his trembling hand.
"What's the matter, Walters?" asked Baynes sharply.
The man mopped his forehead with his handkerchief and gave a long sigh of relief.
"I am glad you have come, sir. It has been a long evening, and I don't think my nerve is as good as it was."
"Your nerve, Walters? I should not have thought you had a nerve in your body."
"Well, sir, it's this lonely, silent house and the queer thing in the kitchen. Then when you tapped at the window I thought it had come again."
"That what had come again?"
"The devil, sir, for all I know. It was at the window."
"What was at the window, and when?"
"It was just about two hours ago. The light was just fading. I was sitting reading in the chair. I don't know what made me look up, but there was a face looking in at me through the lower pane. Lord, sir, what a face it was! I'll see it in my dreams."
"Tut, tut, Walters. This is not talk for a police-constable."
"I know, sir, I know; but it shook me, sir, and there's no use to deny it. It wasn't black, sir, nor was it white, nor any colour that I know but a kind of queer shade like clay with a splash of milk in it. Then there was the size of it--it was twice yours, sir. And the look of it--the great staring goggle6 eyes, and the line of white teeth like a hungry beast. I tell you, sir, I couldn't move a finger, nor get my breath, till it whisked away and was gone. Out I ran and through the shrubbery, but thank God there was no one there."
"If I didn't know you were a good man, Walters, I should put a black mark against you for this. If it were the devil himself a constable on duty should never thank God that he could not lay his hands upon him. I suppose the whole thing is not a vision and a touch of nerves?"
"That, at least, is very easily settled," said Holmes, lighting7 his little pocket lantern. "Yes," he reported, after a short examination of the grass bed, "a number twelve shoe, I should say. If he was all on the same scale as his foot he must certainly have been a giant."
"What became of him?"
"He seems to have broken through the shrubbery and made for the road."
"Well," said the inspector8 with a grave and thoughtful face, "whoever he may have been, and whatever he may have wanted, he's gone for the present, and we have more immediate9 things to attend to. Now, Mr. Holmes, with your permission, I will show you round the house."
The various bedrooms and sitting-rooms had yielded nothing to a careful search. Apparently10 the tenants11 had brought little or nothing with them, and all the furniture down to the smallest details had been taken over with the house. A good deal of clothing with the stamp of Marx and Co., High Holborn, had been left behind. Telegraphic inquiries12 had been already made which showed that Marx knew nothing of his customer save that he was a good payer. Odds13 and ends, some pipes, a few novels, two of them in Spanish, an old-fashioned pinfire revolver, and a guitar were among the personal property.
"Nothing in all this," said Baynes, stalking, candle in hand, from room to room. "But now, Mr. Holmes, I invite your attention to the kitchen."
It was a gloomy, high-ceilinged room at the back of the house, with a straw litter in one corner, which served apparently as a bed for the cook. The table was piled with half-eaten dishes and dirty plates, the debris14 of last night's dinner.
"Look at this," said Baynes. "What do you make of it?"
He held up his candle before an extraordinary object which stood at the back of the dresser. It was so wrinkled and shrunken and withered15 that it was difficult to say what it might have been. One could but say that it was black and leathery and that it bore some resemblance to a dwarfish16, human figure. At first, as I examined it, I thought that it was a mummified negro baby, and then it seemed a very twisted and ancient monkey. Finally I was left in doubt as to whether it was animal or human. A double band of white shells were strung round the centre of it.
"Very interesting--very interesting, indeed!" said Holmes, peering at this sinister17 relic18. "Anything more?"
In silence Baynes led the way to the sink and held forward his candle. The limbs and body of some large, white bird, torn savagely20 to pieces with the feathers still on, were littered all over it. Holmes pointed21 to the wattles on the severed22 head.
"A white cock," said he. "Most interesting! It is really a very curious case."
But Mr. Baynes had kept his most sinister exhibit to the last. From under the sink he drew a zinc23 pail which contained a quantity of blood. Then from the table he took a platter heaped with small pieces of charred24 bone.
"Something has been killed and something has been burned. We raked all these out of the fire. We had a doctor in this morning. He says that they are not human."
Holmes smiled and rubbed his hands.
"I must congratulate you, Inspector, on handling so distinctive25 and instructive a case. Your powers, if I may say so without offence, seem superior to your opportunities."
Inspector Baynes's small eyes twinkled with pleasure.
"You're right, Mr. Holmes. We stagnate27 in the provinces. A case of this sort gives a man a chance, and I hope that I shall take it. What do you make of these bones?"
"A lamb, I should say, or a kid."
"And the white cock?"
"Curious, Mr. Baynes, very curious. I should say almost unique."
"Yes, sir, there must have been some very strange people with some very strange ways in this house. One of them is dead. Did his companions follow him and kill him? If they did we should have them, for every port is watched. But my own views are different. Yes, sir, my own views are very different."
"You have a theory then?"
"And I'll work it myself, Mr. Holmes. It's only due to my own credit to do so. Your name is made, but I have still to make mine. I should be glad to be able to say afterwards that I had solved it without your help."
Holmes laughed good-humoredly.
"Well, well, Inspector," said he. "Do you follow your path and I will follow mine. My results are always very much at your service if you care to apply to me for them. I think that I have seen all that I wish in this house, and that my time may be more profitably employed elsewhere. Au revoir and good luck!"
I could tell by numerous subtle signs, which might have been lost upon anyone but myself, that Holmes was on a hot scent28. As impassive as ever to the casual observer, there were none the less a subdued29 eagerness and suggestion of tension in his brightened eyes and brisker manner which assured me that the game was afoot. After his habit he said nothing, and after mine I asked no questions. Sufficient for me to share the sport and lend my humble30 help to the capture without distracting that intent brain with needless interruption. All would come round to me in due time.
I waited, therefore--but to my ever-deepening disappointment I waited in vain. Day succeeded day, and my friend took no step forward. One morning he spent in town, and I learned from a casual reference that he had visited the British Museum. Save for this one excursion, he spent his days in long and often solitary31 walks, or in chatting with a number of village gossips whose acquaintance he had cultivated.
"I'm sure, Watson, a week in the country will be invaluable32 to you," he remarked. "It is very pleasant to see the first green shoots upon the hedges and the catkins on the hazels once again. With a spud, a tin box, and an elementary book on botany, there are instructive days to be spent." He prowled about with this equipment himself, but it was a poor show of plants which he would bring back of an evening.
Occasionally in our rambles33 we came across Inspector Baynes. His fat, red face wreathed itself in smiles and his small eyes glittered as he greeted my companion. He said little about the case, but from that little we gathered that he also was not dissatisfied at the course of events. I must admit, however, that I was somewhat surprised when, some five days after the crime, I opened my morning paper to find in large letters:
THE OXSHOTT MYSTERY
A SOLUTION
ARREST OF SUPPOSED ASSASSIN
Holmes sprang in his chair as if he had been stung when I read the headlines.
"By Jove!" he cried. "You don't mean that Baynes has got him?"
"Apparently," said I as I read the following report:
"Great excitement was caused in Esher and the neighbouring district when it was learned late last night that an arrest had been effected in connection with the Oxshott murder. It will be remembered that Mr. Garcia, of Wisteria Lodge34, was found dead on Oxshott Common, his body showing signs of extreme violence, and that on the same night his servant and his cook fled, which appeared to show their participation35 in the crime. It was suggested, but never proved, that the deceased gentleman may have had valuables in the house, and that their abstraction was the motive36 of the crime. Every effort was made by Inspector Baynes, who has the case in hand, to ascertain37 the hiding place of the fugitives38, and he had good reason to believe that they had not gone far but were lurking39 in some retreat which had been already prepared. It was certain from the first, however, that they would eventually be detected, as the cook, from the evidence of one or two tradespeople who have caught a glimpse of him through the window, was a man of most remarkable40 appearance--being a huge and hideous41 mulatto, with yellowish features of a pronounced negroid type. This man has been seen since the crime, for he was detected and pursued by Constable Walters on the same evening, when he had the audacity42 to revisit Wisteria Lodge. Inspector Baynes, considering that such a visit must have some purpose in view and was likely, therefore, to be repeated, abandoned the house but left an ambuscade in the shrubbery. The man walked into the trap and was captured last night after a struggle in which Constable Downing was badly bitten by the savage19. We understand that when the prisoner is brought before the magistrates43 a remand will be applied45 for by the police, and that great developments are hoped from his capture."
"Really we must see Baynes at once," cried Holmes, picking up his hat. "We will just catch him before he starts." We hurried down the village street and found, as we had expected, that the inspector was just leaving his lodgings46.
"You've seen the paper, Mr. Holmes?" he asked, holding one out to us.
"Yes, Baynes, I've seen it. Pray don't think it a liberty if I give you a word of friendly warning."
"Of warning, Mr. Holmes?"
"I have looked into this case with some care, and I am not convinced that you are on the right lines. I don't want you to commit yourself too far unless you are sure."
"You're very kind, Mr. Holmes."
"I assure you I speak for your good."
It seemed to me that something like a wink26 quivered for an instant over one of Mr. Baynes's tiny eyes.
"We agreed to work on our own lines, Mr. Holmes. That's what I am doing."
"Oh, very good," said Holmes. "Don't blame me."
"No, sir; I believe you mean well by me. But we all have our own systems, Mr. Holmes. You have yours, and maybe I have mine."
"Let us say no more about it."
"You're welcome always to my news. This fellow is a perfect savage, as strong as a cart-horse and as fierce as the devil. He chewed Downing's thumb nearly off before they could master him. He hardly speaks a word of English, and we can get nothing out of him but grunts47."
"And you think you have evidence that he murdered his late master?"
"I didn't say so, Mr. Holmes; I didn't say so. We all have our little ways. You try yours and I will try mine. That's the agreement."
Holmes shrugged48 his shoulders as we walked away together. "I can't make the man out. He seems to be riding for a fall. Well, as he says, we must each try our own way and see what comes of it. But there's something in Inspector Baynes which I can't quite understand."
"Just sit down in that chair, Watson," said Sherlock Holmes when we had returned to our apartment at the Bull. "I want to put you in touch with the situation, as I may need your help to-night. Let me show you the evolution of this case so far as I have been able to follow it. Simple as it has been in its leading features, it has none the less presented surprising difficulties in the way of an arrest. There are gaps in that direction which we have still to fill.
"We will go back to the note which was handed in to Garcia upon the evening of his death. We may put aside this idea of Baynes's that Garcia's servants were concerned in the matter. The proof of this lies in the fact that it was _he_ who had arranged for the presence of Scott Eccles, which could only have been done for the purpose of an alibi49. It was Garcia, then, who had an enterprise, and apparently a criminal enterprise, in hand that night in the course of which he met his death. I say 'criminal' because only a man with a criminal enterprise desires to establish an alibi. Who, then, is most likely to have taken his life? Surely the person against whom the criminal enterprise was directed. So far it seems to me that we are on safe ground.
"We can now see a reason for the disappearance50 of Garcia's household. They were _all_ confederates in the same unknown crime. If it came off when Garcia returned, any possible suspicion would be warded51 off by the Englishman's evidence, and all would be well. But the attempt was a dangerous one, and if Garcia did _not_ return by a certain hour it was probable that his own life had been sacrificed. It had been arranged, therefore, that in such a case his two subordinates were to make for some prearranged spot where they could escape investigation52 and be in a position afterwards to renew their attempt. That would fully53 explain the facts, would it not?"
The whole inexplicable54 tangle55 seemed to straighten out before me. I wondered, as I always did, how it had not been obvious to me before.
"But why should one servant return?"
"We can imagine that in the confusion of flight something precious, something which he could not bear to part with, had been left behind. That would explain his persistence56, would it not?"
"Well, what is the next step?"
"The next step is the note received by Garcia at the dinner. It indicates a confederate at the other end. Now, where was the other end? I have already shown you that it could only lie in some large house, and that the number of large houses is limited. My first days in this village were devoted57 to a series of walks in which in the intervals58 of my botanical researches I made a reconnaissance of all the large houses and an examination of the family history of the occupants. One house, and only one, riveted59 my attention. It is the famous old Jacobean grange of High Gable, one mile on the farther side of Oxshott, and less than half a mile from the scene of the tragedy. The other mansions60 belonged to prosaic61 and respectable people who live far aloof62 from romance. But Mr. Henderson, of High Gable, was by all accounts a curious man to whom curious adventures might befall. I concentrated my attention, therefore, upon him and his household.
"A singular set of people, Watson--the man himself the most singular of them all. I managed to see him on a plausible63 pretext64, but I seemed to read in his dark, deepset, brooding eyes that he was perfectly65 aware of my true business. He is a man of fifty, strong, active, with iron-gray hair, great bunched black eyebrows66, the step of a deer and the air of an emperor--a fierce, masterful man, with a red-hot spirit behind his parchment face. He is either a foreigner or has lived long in the tropics, for he is yellow and sapless, but tough as whipcord. His friend and secretary, Mr. Lucas, is undoubtedly67 a foreigner, chocolate brown, wily, suave68, and catlike, with a poisonous gentleness of speech. You see, Watson, we have come already upon two sets of foreigners--one at Wisteria Lodge and one at High Gable--so our gaps are beginning to close.
"These two men, close and confidential69 friends, are the centre of the household; but there is one other person who for our immediate purpose may be even more important. Henderson has two children--girls of eleven and thirteen. Their governess is a Miss Burnet, an Englishwoman of forty or thereabouts. There is also one confidential manservant. This little group forms the real family, for they travel about together, and Henderson is a great traveller, always on the move. It is only within the last weeks that he has returned, after a year's absence, to High Gable. I may add that he is enormously rich, and whatever his whims70 may be he can very easily satisfy them. For the rest, his house is full of butlers, footmen, maidservants, and the usual overfed, underworked staff of a large English country house.
"So much I learned partly from village gossip and partly from my own observation. There are no better instruments than discharged servants with a grievance71, and I was lucky enough to find one. I call it luck, but it would not have come my way had I not been looking out for it. As Baynes remarks, we all have our systems. It was my system which enabled me to find John Warner, late gardener of High Gable, sacked in a moment of temper by his imperious employer. He in turn had friends among the indoor servants who unite in their fear and dislike of their master. So I had my key to the secrets of the establishment.
"Curious people, Watson! I don't pretend to understand it all yet, but very curious people anyway. It's a double-winged house, and the servants live on one side, the family on the other. There's no link between the two save for Henderson's own servant, who serves the family's meals. Everything is carried to a certain door, which forms the one connection. Governess and children hardly go out at all, except into the garden. Henderson never by any chance walks alone. His dark secretary is like his shadow. The gossip among the servants is that their master is terribly afraid of something. 'Sold his soul to the devil in exchange for money,' says Warner, 'and expects his creditor72 to come up and claim his own.' Where they came from, or who they are, nobody has an idea. They are very violent. Twice Henderson has lashed73 at folk with his dog-whip, and only his long purse and heavy compensation have kept him out of the courts.
"Well, now, Watson, let us judge the situation by this new information. We may take it that the letter came out of this strange household and was an invitation to Garcia to carry out some attempt which had already been planned. Who wrote the note? It was someone within the citadel74, and it was a woman. Who then but Miss Burnet, the governess? All our reasoning seems to point that way. At any rate, we may take it as a hypothesis and see what consequences it would entail75. I may add that Miss Burnet's age and character make it certain that my first idea that there might be a love interest in our story is out of the question.
"If she wrote the note she was presumably the friend and confederate of Garcia. What, then, might she be expected to do if she heard of his death? If he met it in some nefarious76 enterprise her lips might be sealed. Still, in her heart, she must retain bitterness and hatred77 against those who had killed him and would presumably help so far as she could to have revenge upon them. Could we see her, then and try to use her? That was my first thought. But now we come to a sinister fact. Miss Burnet has not been seen by any human eye since the night of the murder. From that evening she has utterly78 vanished. Is she alive? Has she perhaps met her end on the same night as the friend whom she had summoned? Or is she merely a prisoner? There is the point which we still have to decide.
"You will appreciate the difficulty of the situation, Watson. There is nothing upon which we can apply for a warrant. Our whole scheme might seem fantastic if laid before a magistrate44. The woman's disappearance counts for nothing, since in that extraordinary household any member of it might be invisible for a week. And yet she may at the present moment be in danger of her life. All I can do is to watch the house and leave my agent, Warner, on guard at the gates. We can't let such a situation continue. If the law can do nothing we must take the risk ourselves."
"What do you suggest?"
"I know which is her room. It is accessible from the top of an outhouse. My suggestion is that you and I go to-night and see if we can strike at the very heart of the mystery."
It was not, I must confess, a very alluring79 prospect80. The old house with its atmosphere of murder, the singular and formidable inhabitants, the unknown dangers of the approach, and the fact that we were putting ourselves legally in a false position all combined to damp my ardour. But there was something in the ice-cold reasoning of Holmes which made it impossible to shrink from any adventure which he might recommend. One knew that thus, and only thus, could a solution be found. I clasped his hand in silence, and the die was cast.
But it was not destined81 that our investigation should have so adventurous82 an ending. It was about five o'clock, and the shadows of the March evening were beginning to fall, when an excited rustic83 rushed into our room.
"They've gone, Mr. Holmes. They went by the last train. The lady broke away, and I've got her in a cab downstairs."
"Excellent, Warner!" cried Holmes, springing to his feet. "Watson, the gaps are closing rapidly."
In the cab was a woman, half-collapsed from nervous exhaustion84. She bore upon her aquiline85 and emaciated86 face the traces of some recent tragedy. Her head hung listlessly upon her breast, but as she raised it and turned her dull eyes upon us I saw that her pupils were dark dots in the centre of the broad gray iris87. She was drugged with opium88.
"I watched at the gate, same as you advised, Mr. Holmes," said our emissary, the discharged gardener. "When the carriage came out I followed it to the station. She was like one walking in her sleep, but when they tried to get her into the train she came to life and struggled. They pushed her into the carriage. She fought her way out again. I took her part, got her into a cab, and here we are. I shan't forget the face at the carriage window as I led her away. I'd have a short life if he had his way--the black-eyed, scowling89, yellow devil."
We carried her upstairs, laid her on the sofa, and a couple of cups of the strongest coffee soon cleared her brain from the mists of the drug. Baynes had been summoned by Holmes, and the situation rapidly explained to him.
"Why, sir, you've got me the very evidence I want," said the inspector warmly, shaking my friend by the hand. "I was on the same scent as you from the first."
"What! You were after Henderson?"
"Why, Mr. Holmes, when you were crawling in the shrubbery at High Gable I was up one of the trees in the plantation90 and saw you down below. It was just who would get his evidence first."
"Then why did you arrest the mulatto?"
"I was sure Henderson, as he calls himself, felt that he was suspected, and that he would lie low and make no move so long as he thought he was in any danger. I arrested the wrong man to make him believe that our eyes were off him. I knew he would be likely to clear off then and give us a chance of getting at Miss Burnet."
Holmes laid his hand upon the inspector's shoulder.
"You will rise high in your profession. You have instinct and intuition," said he.
Baynes flushed with pleasure.
"I've had a plain-clothes man waiting at the station all the week. Wherever the High Gable folk go he will keep them in sight. But he must have been hard put to it when Miss Burnet broke away. However, your man picked her up, and it all ends well. We can't arrest without her evidence, that is clear, so the sooner we get a statement the better."
"Every minute she gets stronger," said Holmes, glancing at the governess. "But tell me, Baynes, who is this man Henderson?"
"Henderson," the inspector answered, "is Don Murillo, once called the Tiger of San Pedro."
The Tiger of San Pedro! The whole history of the man came back to me in a flash. He had made his name as the most lewd92 and bloodthirsty tyrant93 that had ever governed any country with a pretence94 to civilization. Strong, fearless, and energetic, he had sufficient virtue95 to enable him to impose his odious96 vices97 upon a cowering98 people for ten or twelve years. His name was a terror through all Central America. At the end of that time there was a universal rising against him. But he was as cunning as he was cruel, and at the first whisper of coming trouble he had secretly conveyed his treasures aboard a ship which was manned by devoted adherents99. It was an empty palace which was stormed by the insurgents100 next day. The dictator, his two children, his secretary, and his wealth had all escaped them. From that moment he had vanished from the world, and his identity had been a frequent subject for comment in the European press.
"Yes, sir, Don Murillo, the Tiger of San Pedro," said Baynes. "If you look it up you will find that the San Pedro colours are green and white, same as in the note, Mr. Holmes. Henderson he called himself, but I traced him back, Paris and Rome and Madrid to Barcelona, where his ship came in in '86. They've been looking for him all the time for their revenge, but it is only now that they have begun to find him out."
"They discovered him a year ago," said Miss Burnet, who had sat up and was now intently following the conversation. "Once already his life has been attempted, but some evil spirit shielded him. Now, again, it is the noble, chivalrous101 Garcia who has fallen, while the monster goes safe. But another will come, and yet another, until some day justice will be done; that is as certain as the rise of to-morrow's sun." Her thin hands clenched102, and her worn face blanched103 with the passion of her hatred.
"But how come you into this matter, Miss Burnet?" asked Holmes. "How can an English lady join in such a murderous affair?"
"I join in it because there is no other way in the world by which justice can be gained. What does the law of England care for the rivers of blood shed years ago in San Pedro, or for the shipload of treasure which this man has stolen? To you they are like crimes committed in some other planet. But _we_ know. We have learned the truth in sorrow and in suffering. To us there is no fiend in hell like Juan Murillo, and no peace in life while his victims still cry for vengeance104."
"No doubt," said Holmes, "he was as you say. I have heard that he was atrocious. But how are you affected105?"
"I will tell you it all. This villain's policy was to murder, on one pretext or another, every man who showed such promise that he might in time come to be a dangerous rival. My husband--yes, my real name is Signora Victor Durando--was the San Pedro minister in London. He met me and married me there. A nobler man never lived upon earth. Unhappily, Murillo heard of his excellence106, recalled him on some pretext, and had him shot. With a premonition of his fate he had refused to take me with him. His estates were confiscated107, and I was left with a pittance108 and a broken heart.
"Then came the downfall of the tyrant. He escaped as you have just described. But the many whose lives he had ruined, whose nearest and dearest had suffered torture and death at his hands, would not let the matter rest. They banded themselves into a society which should never be dissolved until the work was done. It was my part after we had discovered in the transformed Henderson the fallen despot, to attach myself to his household and keep the others in touch with his movements. This I was able to do by securing the position of governess in his family. He little knew that the woman who faced him at every meal was the woman whose husband he had hurried at an hour's notice into eternity109. I smiled on him, did my duty to his children, and bided110 my time. An attempt was made in Paris and failed. We zig-zagged swiftly here and there over Europe to throw off the pursuers and finally returned to this house, which he had taken upon his first arrival in England.
"But here also the ministers of justice were waiting. Knowing that he would return there, Garcia, who is the son of the former highest dignitary in San Pedro, was waiting with two trusty companions of humble station, all three fired with the same reasons for revenge. He could do little during the day, for Murillo took every precaution and never went out save with his satellite Lucas, or Lopez as he was known in the days of his greatness. At night, however, he slept alone, and the avenger111 might find him. On a certain evening, which had been prearranged, I sent my friend final instructions, for the man was forever on the alert and continually changed his room. I was to see that the doors were open and the signal of a green or white light in a window which faced the drive was to give notice if all was safe or if the attempt had better be postponed112.
"But everything went wrong with us. In some way I had excited the suspicion of Lopez, the secretary. He crept up behind me and sprang upon me just as I had finished the note. He and his master dragged me to my room and held judgment113 upon me as a convicted traitress. Then and there they would have plunged114 their knives into me could they have seen how to escape the consequences of the deed. Finally, after much debate, they concluded that my murder was too dangerous. But they determined115 to get rid forever of Garcia. They had gagged me, and Murillo twisted my arm round until I gave him the address. I swear that he might have twisted it off had I understood what it would mean to Garcia. Lopez addressed the note which I had written, sealed it with his sleeve-link, and sent it by the hand of the servant, Jose. How they murdered him I do not know, save that it was Murillo's hand who struck him down, for Lopez had remained to guard me. I believe he must have waited among the gorse bushes through which the path winds and struck him down as he passed. At first they were of a mind to let him enter the house and to kill him as a detected burglar; but they argued that if they were mixed up in an inquiry116 their own identity would at once be publicly disclosed and they would be open to further attacks. With the death of Garcia, the pursuit might cease, since such a death might frighten others from the task.
"All would now have been well for them had it not been for my knowledge of what they had done. I have no doubt that there were times when my life hung in the balance. I was confined to my room, terrorized by the most horrible threats, cruelly ill-used to break my spirit--see this stab on my shoulder and the bruises117 from end to end of my arms--and a gag was thrust into my mouth on the one occasion when I tried to call from the window. For five days this cruel imprisonment118 continued, with hardly enough food to hold body and soul together. This afternoon a good lunch was brought me, but the moment after I took it I knew that I had been drugged. In a sort of dream I remember being half-led, half-carried to the carriage; in the same state I was conveyed to the train. Only then, when the wheels were almost moving, did I suddenly realize that my liberty lay in my own hands. I sprang out, they tried to drag me back, and had it not been for the help of this good man, who led me to the cab, I should never had broken away. Now, thank God, I am beyond their power forever."
We had all listened intently to this remarkable statement. It was Holmes who broke the silence.
"Our difficulties are not over," he remarked, shaking his head. "Our police work ends, but our legal work begins."
"Exactly," said I. "A plausible lawyer could make it out as an act of self-defence. There may be a hundred crimes in the background, but it is only on this one that they can be tried."
"Come, come," said Baynes cheerily, "I think better of the law than that. Self-defence is one thing. To entice119 a man in cold blood with the object of murdering him is another, whatever danger you may fear from him. No, no, we shall all be justified120 when we see the tenants of High Gable at the next Guildford Assizes."
It is a matter of history, however, that a little time was still to elapse before the Tiger of San Pedro should meet with his deserts. Wily and bold, he and his companion threw their pursuer off their track by entering a lodging-house in Edmonton Street and leaving by the back-gate into Curzon Square. From that day they were seen no more in England. Some six months afterwards the Marquess of Montalva and Signor Rulli, his secretary, were both murdered in their rooms at the Hotel Escurial at Madrid. The crime was ascribed to Nihilism, and the murderers were never arrested. Inspector Baynes visited us at Baker121 Street with a printed description of the dark face of the secretary, and of the masterful features, the magnetic black eyes, and the tufted brows of his master. We could not doubt that justice, if belated, had come at last.
"A chaotic122 case, my dear Watson," said Holmes over an evening pipe. "It will not be possible for you to present in that compact form which is dear to your heart. It covers two continents, concerns two groups of mysterious persons, and is further complicated by the highly respectable presence of our friend, Scott Eccles, whose inclusion shows me that the deceased Garcia had a scheming mind and a well-developed instinct of self-preservation. It is remarkable only for the fact that amid a perfect jungle of possibilities we, with our worthy123 collaborator124, the inspector, have kept our close hold on the essentials and so been guided along the crooked125 and winding126 path. Is there any point which is not quite clear to you?"
"The object of the mulatto cook's return?"
"I think that the strange creature in the kitchen may account for it. The man was a primitive127 savage from the backwoods of San Pedro, and this was his fetish. When his companion and he had fled to some prearranged retreat--already occupied, no doubt by a confederate--the companion had persuaded him to leave so compromising an article of furniture. But the mulatto's heart was with it, and he was driven back to it next day, when, on reconnoitering through the window, he found policeman Walters in possession. He waited three days longer, and then his piety128 or his superstition129 drove him to try once more. Inspector Baynes, who, with his usual astuteness130, had minimized the incident before me, had really recognized its importance and had left a trap into which the creature walked. Any other point, Watson?"
Holmes smiled as he turned up an entry in his note-book.
"I spent a morning in the British Museum reading up on that and other points. Here is a quotation132 from Eckermann's Voodooism and the Negroid Religions:
"'The true voodoo-worshipper attempts nothing of importance without certain sacrifices which are intended to propitiate133 his unclean gods. In extreme cases these rites134 take the form of human sacrifices followed by cannibalism135. The more usual victims are a white cock, which is plucked in pieces alive, or a black goat, whose throat is cut and body burned.'
"So you see our savage friend was very orthodox in his ritual. It is grotesque136, Watson," Holmes added, as he slowly fastened his notebook, "but, as I have had occasion to remark, there is but one step from the grotesque to the horrible."
The End
The End
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1
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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2
chestnuts
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| n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 )；栗色；栗树；栗色马 | |
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3
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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4
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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6
goggle
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| n.瞪眼，转动眼珠，护目镜；v.瞪眼看，转眼珠 | |
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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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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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9
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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10
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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11
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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12
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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13
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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14
debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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15
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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16
dwarfish
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| a.像侏儒的，矮小的 | |
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17
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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18
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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19
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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21
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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22
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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23
zinc
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| n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌 | |
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24
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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25
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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26
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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27
stagnate
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| v.停止 | |
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28
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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29
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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30
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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31
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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32
invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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33
rambles
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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34
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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35
participation
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| n.参与，参加，分享 | |
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36
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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37
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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38
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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39
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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40
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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41
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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42
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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43
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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44
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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45
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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46
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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47
grunts
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈 | |
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48
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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49
alibi
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| n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口 | |
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50
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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51
warded
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| 有锁孔的，有钥匙榫槽的 | |
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52
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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53
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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54
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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55
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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56
persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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57
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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58
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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59
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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60
mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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61
prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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62
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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63
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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64
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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65
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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66
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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67
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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68
suave
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| adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的 | |
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69
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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70
WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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71
grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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72
creditor
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| n.债仅人，债主，贷方 | |
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73
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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74
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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75
entail
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| vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要 | |
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76
nefarious
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| adj.恶毒的，极坏的 | |
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77
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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78
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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79
alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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80
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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81
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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82
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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83
rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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84
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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85
aquiline
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| adj.钩状的，鹰的 | |
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86
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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87
iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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88
opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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89
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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90
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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91
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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92
lewd
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| adj.淫荡的 | |
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93
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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94
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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95
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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96
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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97
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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98
cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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99
adherents
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| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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100
insurgents
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| n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 ) | |
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101
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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102
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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103
blanched
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| v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮 | |
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104
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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105
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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106
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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107
confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
pittance
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| n.微薄的薪水，少量 | |
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109
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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110
bided
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| v.等待，停留( bide的过去式 )；居住；等待；面临 | |
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111
avenger
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| n. 复仇者 | |
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112
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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113
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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114
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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115
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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116
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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bruises
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| n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 ) | |
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imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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entice
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| v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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122
chaotic
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| adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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collaborator
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| n.合作者，协作者 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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astuteness
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| n.敏锐；精明；机敏 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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132
quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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propitiate
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| v.慰解，劝解 | |
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134
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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135
cannibalism
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| n.同类相食；吃人肉 | |
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grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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