"Has there been any rain during the night, Coates?" I asked.
"Not since a little before midnight, sir."
"Ah!" said I, "and have you been in the garden this morning, Coates?"
"Yes, sir," he replied, "for raspberries for breakfast, sir."
"But not on this side of the cottage?"
"Not on this side."
"Then will you step out, Coates, keeping carefully to the paths, and proceed as far as the tool-shed? Particularly note if the beds have been disturbed between the hedge and the path, but don't make any marks yourself. You are looking for spoor, you understand?"
"Spoor? Very good, sir. Of big game?"
"Of big game, yes, Coates."
Unmoved by the strangeness of his instructions, Coates, an object-lesson for those who decry4 the excellence5 of British Army disciplinary methods, departed.
It was with not a little curiosity and interest that I awaited his report. As I sat sipping6 my tea I could hear his regular tread as he passed along the garden path outside the window. Then it ceased and was followed by a vague muttering. He had found something. All traces of the storm had disappeared and there was every indication of a renewal7 of the heat-wave; but I knew that the wet soil would have preserved a perfect impression of any imprint8 made upon it on the previous night. Nevertheless, with the early morning sun streaming into my window out of a sky as near to turquoise9 as I had ever seen it in England, I found it impossible to recapture that uncanny thrill which had come to me in the dark hours when out of the shadows under the hedge the great cat's eyes had looked up at me.
And now, becoming more fully3 awake, I remembered something else which hitherto I had not associated with the latter phenomenon. I remembered that lithe10 and evasive pursuing shape which I had detected behind me on the road. Even now, however, it was difficult to associate one with the other; for whereas the dimly-seen figure had resembled that of a man (or, more closely, that of a woman) the eyes had looked out upon me from a point low down near the ground, like those of some crouching11 feline12.
Coates' footsteps sounded again upon the path and I heard him walking round the cottage and through the kitchen. Finally he reëntered the bedroom and stood just within the doorway13 in that attitude of attention which was part and parcel of the man. His appearance would doubtless have violated the proprieties14 of the Albany, for in my rural retreat he was called upon to perform other and more important services than those of a valet. His neatly15 shaved chin, stolid16 red countenance17 and perfectly18 brushed hair were unexceptionable of course, but because his duties would presently take him into the garden he wore, not the regulation black, but an ancient shooting-jacket, khaki breeches and brown gaiters, looking every inch of him the old soldier that he was.
"Well, Coates?" said I.
He cleared his throat.
"There are footprints in the radish-beds, sir," he reported.
"Footprints?"
"Yes, sir. Very deep. As though some one had jumped over the hedge and landed there."
"Jumped over the hedge!" I exclaimed. "That would be a considerable jump, Coates, from the road."
"She?"
Coates cleared his throat again.
"There are three sets of prints in all. First a very deep one where the party had landed, then another broken up like, where she had turned round, and the third set with the heel-marks very deep where she had sprung back over the hedge."
"She?" I shouted.
"The prints, sir," resumed Coates, unmoved, "are those of a lady's high-heeled shoes."
I sat bolt upright in bed, staring at the man and scarcely able to credit my senses. Words failed me. Whereupon:
"Will you have tea or coffee for breakfast?" inquired Coates.
"Tea or coffee be damned, Coates!" I cried. "I'm going out to look at those footprints! If you had seen what I saw last night, even your old mahogany countenance would relax for once, I assure you."
"Indeed, sir," said Coates; "did you see the lady, then?"
"Lady!" I exclaimed, tumbling out of bed. "If the eyes that looked at me last night belonged to a 'lady' either I am mad or the 'lady' is of another world."
I pulled on a bath-robe and hurried out into the garden, Coates showing me the spot where he had found the mysterious foot-prints. A very brief examination sufficed to convince me that his account had been correct. Some one wearing high-heeled shoes clearly enough had stood there at some time whilst the soil was quite wet; and as no track led to or from the marks, Coates' conclusion that the person who had made them must have come over the hedge was the only feasible one. I turned to him in amazement20, but recognizing in time the wildly fantastic nature of the sight which I had seen in the night, I refrained from speaking of the blazing eyes and made my way to the bathroom wondering if some chance reflection might not have deceived me and the presence of a woman's footmarks at the same spot be no more than a singular coincidence. Even so the mystery of their presence there remained unexplained.
My thoughts were diverted from a trend of profitless conjecture21 when shortly after breakfast time my 'phone bell rang. It was the editor of the Planet, to whom I had been indebted for a number of special commissions—including my fascinating quest of the Giant Gnu, which, generally supposed to be extinct, was reported by certain natives and others to survive in a remote corner of the Dark Continent.
Readers of the Planet will remember that although I failed to discover the Gnu I came upon a number of notable things on my journey through the almost unexplored country about the head-waters of the Niger.
"A most extraordinary case has cropped up," he said, "quite in your line, I think, Addison. Evidently a murder, and the circumstances seem to be most dramatic and unusual. I should be glad if you would take it up."
I inquired without much enthusiasm for details. Criminology was one of my hobbies, and in several instances I had traced cases of alleged22 haunting and other supposedly supernatural happenings to a criminal source; but the ordinary sordid23 murder did not interest me.
"The body of Sir Marcus Coverly has been found in a crate24!" explained my friend. "The crate was being lowered into the hold of the S.S. Oritoga at the West India Docks. It had been delivered by a conveyance25 specially26 hired for the purpose apparently27, as the Oritoga is due to sail in an hour. There are all sorts of curious details but these you can learn for yourself. Don't trouble to call at the office; proceed straight to the dock."
"Right!" I said shortly. "I'll start immediately."
And this sudden decision had been brought about by the mention of the victim's name. Indeed, as I replaced the receiver on the hook I observed that my hand was shaking and I have little doubt that I had grown pale.
In the first place, then, let me confess that my retirement28 to the odd little retreat which at this time was my home, and my absorption in the obscure studies to which I have referred were not so much due to any natural liking29 for the life of a recluse30 as to the shattering of certain matrimonial designs. I had learned of the wreck31 of my hopes upon reading a press paragraph which announced the engagement of Isobel Merlin to Eric Coverly. And it was as much to conceal32 my disappointment from the world as for any better reason that I had slunk into retirement; for if I am slow to come to a decision in such a matter, once come to, it is of no light moment.
Yet although I had breathed no word of my lost dreams to Isobel but had congratulated her with the rest, often and bitterly I had cursed myself for a sluggard33. Too late I had learned that she had but awaited a word from me; and I had gone off to Mesopotamia, leaving that word unspoken. During my absence Coverly had won the prize which I had thrown away. He was heir to the title, for his cousin, Sir Marcus, was unmarried. Now here, a bolt from the blue, came the news of his cousin's death!
It can well be imagined with what intense excitement I hurried to the docks. All other plans abandoned, Coates, arrayed in his neat blue uniform, ran the Rover round from the garage, and ere long we were jolting34 along the hideously35 uneven36 Commercial Road, East, dodging37 traction-engines drawing strings38 of lorries, and continually meeting delay in the form of those breakdowns39 which are of hourly occurrence in this congested but rugged40 highway.
In the West India Dock Road the way became slightly more open, but when at last I alighted and entered the dock gates I recognized that every newspaper and news agency in the kingdom was apparently represented. Jones, of the Gleaner41, was coming out as I went in, and:
"Hello, Addison!" he cried, "this is quite in your line! It's as mad as 'Alice in Wonderland.'"
I did not delay, however, but hurried on in the direction of a dock building, at the door of which was gathered a heterogeneous42 group comprising newspaper men, dock officials, police and others who were unclassifiable. Half a dozen acquaintances greeted me as I came up, and I saw that the door was closed and that a constable43 stood on duty before it.
"I call it damned impudence44, Addison!" exclaimed one pressman. "The dock people are refusing everybody information until Inspector45 Somebody-or-Other arrives from New Scotland Yard. I should think he has stopped on the way to get his lunch."
The speaker glanced impatiently at his watch and I went to speak to the man on duty.
"You have orders to admit no one, constable?" I asked.
"That's so, sir," he replied. "We're waiting for Detective-Inspector Gatton, who has been put in charge of the case."
"Ah! Gatton," I muttered, and, stepping aside from the expectant group, I filled and lighted my pipe, convinced that anything to be learned I should learn from Inspector Gatton, for he and I were old friends, having been mutually concerned in several interesting cases.
A few minutes later the Inspector arrived—a thick-set, clean-shaven, very bronzed man, his dark hair streaked46 with gray, and with all the appearance of a retired47 naval48 officer, in his well-cut blue serge suit and soft felt hat; a very reserved man whose innocent-looking blue eyes gave him that frank and open expression which is more often associated with a seaman49 than with a detective. He nodded to several acquaintances in the group, and then, observing me where I stood, came over and shook hands.
"Open the door, constable," he ordered quietly.
The constable produced a key and unlocked the door of the small stone building. Immediately there was a forward movement of the whole waiting group, but:
"If you please, gentlemen," said Gatton, raising his hand. "I must make my examination first; and Mr. Addison," he added, seeing the resentment50 written upon the faces of my disappointed confrères, "has special information which I am going to ask him to place at my disposal."
The constable stood aside and I followed Inspector Gatton into the stone shed.
"Lock the door again, constable," he ordered; "no one is to be admitted."
Thereupon I looked about me, and the scene which I beheld51 was so strange and gruesome that its every detail remains52 imprinted53 upon my memory.
The building then was lighted by four barred windows set so high in the walls that no one could look in from the outside. Blazing sunlight poured in at the two southerly windows and drew a sharp black pattern of the bars across the paved floor. Kneeling beside a stretcher, fully in this path of light, so that he presented a curious striped appearance, was a man who presently proved to be the divisional surgeon, and two paces beyond stood a police inspector who was engaged at the moment of our entrance in making entries in his note-book.
On the stretcher, so covered up that only his face was visible, lay one whom at first I failed to recognize, for the horribly contorted features presented a kind of mottled green appearance utterly54 indescribable.
"My God!" I muttered. "Yes! it is Sir Marcus!"
The surgeon stood up and the inspector advanced to meet Gatton, but my horrified57 gaze had strayed from the stretcher to a badly damaged and splintered packing-case, which was the only other object in the otherwise empty shed. At this I stared as much aghast as I had stared at the dead man.
The iron bands were broken and twisted and the whole of one side lay in fragments on the floor; but upon a board which had formed part of the top I perceived the figure of a cat roughly traced in green paint.
Beyond any shadow of doubt this crate was the same which on the night before had lain in the garage of the Red House!
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1
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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sedative
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| adj.使安静的，使镇静的；n. 镇静剂，能使安静的东西 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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decry
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| v.危难，谴责 | |
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excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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7
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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imprint
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| n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记 | |
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turquoise
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| n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的 | |
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lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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feline
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| adj.猫科的 | |
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13
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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14
proprieties
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| n.礼仪，礼节；礼貌( propriety的名词复数 )；规矩；正当；合适 | |
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15
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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16
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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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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19
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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20
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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21
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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22
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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24
crate
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| vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱 | |
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25
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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26
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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28
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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30
recluse
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| n.隐居者 | |
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31
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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32
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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33
sluggard
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| n.懒人；adj.懒惰的 | |
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jolting
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| adj.令人震惊的 | |
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hideously
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| adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地 | |
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uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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37
dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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38
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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39
breakdowns
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| n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析 | |
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40
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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41
gleaner
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| n.拾穗的人；割捆机 | |
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42
heterogeneous
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| adj.庞杂的；异类的 | |
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43
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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44
impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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45
inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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46
streaked
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| adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹 | |
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47
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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48
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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49
seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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50
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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51
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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52
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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53
imprinted
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| v.盖印（imprint的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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54
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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55
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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56
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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57
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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