Lingo

Начало книги

DRIZZLY night had gripped Manhattan. Swirling tentacles of gathering fog were suppressing the glow of the city’s lights. In districts of lesser brilliance, an insidious gloom seemed creeping in to smother the artificial illumination that counteracted night. In places where lights were ordinarily feeble, this evening had brought an even heavier blanket of oppressiveness.

Such spots were prevalent on the lower East Side. There, one particular thoroughfare was heavily enshrouded. Moist sidewalks lay black beneath the sullen walls of unlighted buildings. An elevated railway, wedged within the confines of the narrow street, provided an overbearing pall.

Occasional stragglers appeared within the feebly lighted areas of infrequent street lamps. These were shambling denizens of the underworld — dips, hopheads and other small fry — who used this thoroughfare in their shifty travels. But none lingered in this secluded block.

Читать дальше →