THE DAUGHTER OF HUANG CHOW I “DIAMOND FRED”

 In the saloon bar of a public-house, situated¹ only a few hundred yards from the official frontier of Chinatown, two men sat at a small table in a corner, engaged in earnest conversation. They afforded a sharp contrast. One was a thick-set and rather ruffianly looking fellow, not too cleanly in either person or clothing, and, amongst other evidences that at one time he had known the prize ring, possessing a badly broken nose. His companion was dressed with that spruceness which belongs to the successful East End Jew; he was cleanly shaven, of slight build, and alert in manner and address.

 

Having ordered and paid for two whiskies and sodas³, the Jew, raising his glass, nodded to his companion and took a drink. The glitter of a magnificent diamond which he wore seemed to attract the other's attention almost hypnotically.

 

“Cheerio, Freddy!” said the thick-set man. “Any news?”

 

“Nothing much,” returned the one addressed as Freddy, setting his glass upon the table and selecting a cigarette from a packet which he carried in his pocket.

 

“I'm not so sure,” growled⁴ the other, watching him suspiciously. “You've been lying low for a long time, and it's not like you to slack off except when there's something big in sight.”

 

“Hm!” said his companion, lighting⁵ his cigarette. “What do you mean exactly?”

 

Jim Poland—for such was the big man's name—growled and spat⁶ reflectively into a spittoon.

 

“I've had my eye on you, Freddy,” he replied; “I've had my eye on you!”

 

“Oh, have you?” murmured the other. “But tell me what you mean!”

 

Beneath his suave⁷ manner lay a threat, and, indeed, Freddy Cohen, known to his associates as “Diamond Fred,” was in many ways a formidable personality. He had brought to his chosen profession of crook⁸ a first-rate American training, together with all that mental agility⁹ and cleverness which belong to his race, and was at once an object of envy and admiration¹⁰ amongst the fraternity which keeps Scotland Yard busy.

 

Jim Poland, physically¹¹ a more dangerous character, was not in the same class with him; but he was not without brains of a sort, and Cohen, although smiling agreeably, waited with some anxiety for his reply.

 

“I mean,” growled Poland, “that you're not wasting your time with Lala Huang for nothing.”

 

“Perhaps not,” returned Cohen lightly. “She's a pretty girl; but what business is it of yours?”

 

“None at all. I ain't interested in 'er good looks; neither are you.”

 

Cohen shrugged¹² and raised his glass again.

 

“Come on,” growled Poland, leaning across the table. “I know, and I'm in on it. D'ye hear me? I'm in on it. These are hard times, and we've got to stick together.”

 

“Oh,” said Cohen, “that's the game, is it?”

 

“That's the game right enough. You won't go wrong if you bring me in, even at fifty-fifty, because maybe I know things about old Huang that you don't know.”

 

The Jew's expression changed subtly, and beneath his drooping¹³ lids he glanced aside at the speaker. Then:

 

“It's no promise,” he said, “but what do you know?”

 

Poland bent¹⁴ farther over the table.

 

“Chinatown's being watched again. I heard this morning that Red Kerry was down here.”

 

Cohen laughed.

 

“Red Kerry!” he echoed. “Red Kerry means nothing in my young life, Jim.”

 

“Don't 'e?” returned Jim, snarling¹⁵ viciously. “The way he cleaned up that dope crowd awhile back seemed to show he was no jug¹⁶, didn't it?”

 

The Jew made a facial gesture as if to dismiss the subject.

 

“All right,” continued Poland. “Think that way if you like. But the patrols have been doubled. I suppose you know that? And it's a cert there are special men on duty, ever since the death of that Chink.”

 

Cohen shifted uneasily, glancing about him in a furtive¹⁷ fashion.

 

“See what I mean?” continued the other. “Chinatown ain't healthy just now.”

 

He finished his whisky at a draught¹⁸, and, standing¹⁹ up, lurched heavily across to the counter. He returned with two more glasses. Then, reseating himself and bending forward again:

 

“There's one thing I reckon you don't know,” he whispered in Cohen's ear. “I saw that Chink talking to Lala Huang only a week before the time he was hauled out of Limehouse Reach. I'm wondering, Diamond, if, with all your cleverness, you may not go the same way.”

 

“Don't try to pull the creep stuff on me, Jim,” said Cohen uneasily. “What are you driving at, anyway?”

 

“Well,” replied Poland, sipping²⁰ his whisky reflectively, “how did that Chink get into the river?”

 

“How the devil do I know?”

 

“And what killed him? It wasn't drowning, although he was all swelled²¹ up.”

 

“See here, old pal,” said Cohen. “I know 'Frisco better than you know Limehouse. Let me tell you that this little old Chinatown of yours is pie to me. You're trying to get me figuring on Chinese death traps, secret poisons, and all that junk. Boy, you're wasting your poetry. Even if you did see the Chink with Lala, and I doubt it—Oh, don't get excited, I'm speaking plain—there's no connection that I can see between the death of said Chink and old Huang Chow.”

 

“Ain't there?” growled Poland huskily. He grasped the other's wrist as in a vise and bent forward so that his battered²² face was close to the pale countenance²³ of the Jew. “I've been covering old Huang for months and months. Now I'm going to tell you something. Since the death of that Chink Red Kerry's been covering him, too.”

 

“See here!” Cohen withdrew his arm from the other's grasp angrily. “You can't freeze me out of this claim with bogey²⁴ stuff. You're listed, my lad, and you know it. Chief Inspector²⁵ Kerry is your pet nightmare. But if he walked in here right now I could ask him to have a drink. I wouldn't but I could. You've got the wrong angle, Jim. Lala likes me fine, and although she doesn't say much, what she does say is straight. I'll ask her to-night about the Chink.”

 

“Then you'll be a damned fool.”

 

“What's that?”

 

“I say you'll be a damned fool. I'm warning you, Freddy. There are Chinks and Chinks. All the boys know old Huang Chow has got a regular gold mine buried somewhere under the floor. But all the boys don't know what I know, and it seems that you don't either.”

 

“What is that?”

 

Jim Poland bent forward more urgently, again seizing Cohen's wrist, and:

 

“Huang Chow is a mighty²⁶ big bug²⁷ amongst the Chinese,” he whispered, glancing cautiously about him. “He's hellish clever and rotten with money. A man like that wants handling. I'm not telling you what I know. But call it fifty-fifty and maybe you'll come out alive.”

 

The brow of Diamond Fred displayed beads²⁸ of perspiration²⁹, and with a blue silk handkerchief which he carried in his breast pocket he delicately dried his forehead.

 

“You're an old hand at this stuff, Jim,” he muttered. “It amounts to this, I suppose; that if I don't agree you'll queer my game?”

 

Jim Poland's brow lowered and he clenched³⁰ his fists formidably. Then:

 

“Listen,” he said in his hoarse³¹ voice. “It ain't your claim any more than mine. You've covered it different, that's all. Yours was always the petticoat lay. Mine's slower but safer. Is anyone else in with you?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then we'll double up. Now I'll tell you something. I was backing out.”

 

“What? You were going to quit?”

 

“I was.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because the thing's too dead easy, and a thing like that always looks like hell to me.”

 

Freddy Cohen finished his glass of whisky.

 

“Wait while I get some more drinks,” he said.

 

In this way, then, at about the hour of ten on a stuffy³² autumn night, in the crowded bar of that Wapping public-house, these two made a compact; and of its outcome and of the next appearance of Cohen, the Jewish-American cracksman, within the ken² of man, I shall now proceed to tell.

 

1 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

2 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

3 sodas   

n.苏打( soda的名词复数 )；碱；苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• There are plenty of sodas in the refrigerator. 冰箱里有很多碳酸饮料。 来自辞典例句
• Two whisky and sodas, please. 请来两杯威士忌苏打。 来自辞典例句

4 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

7 suave   

adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的

参考例句：

• He is a suave,cool and cultured man.他是个世故、冷静、有教养的人。
• I had difficulty answering his suave questions.我难以回答他的一些彬彬有礼的提问。

8 crook   

v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处)

参考例句：

• He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子，他要我向他认错。
• She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。

9 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。

10 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

11 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

12 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 drooping   

adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词

参考例句：

• The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。
• The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

14 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

15 snarling   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• "I didn't marry you," he said, in a snarling tone. “我没有娶你，"他咆哮着说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• So he got into the shoes snarling. 于是，汤姆一边大喊大叫，一边穿上了那双鞋。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

16 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

17 furtive   

adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的

参考例句：

• The teacher was suspicious of the student's furtive behaviour during the exam.老师怀疑这个学生在考试时有偷偷摸摸的行为。
• His furtive behaviour aroused our suspicion.他鬼鬼祟祟的行为引起了我们的怀疑。

18 draught   

n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计

参考例句：

• He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
• It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗，没有过堂风。

19 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

20 sipping   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
• She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。

21 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

22 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

23 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

24 bogey   

n.令人谈之变色之物；妖怪，幽灵

参考例句：

• The universal bogey is AIDS.艾滋病是所有人唯恐避之不及的东西。
• Age is another bogey for actresses.年龄是另一个让女演员头疼的问题。

25 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

26 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

27 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

28 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

29 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

30 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

31 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

32 stuffy   

adj.不透气的，闷热的

参考例句：

• It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。
• It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。