FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59  
60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   >>   >|  
in. It was very early, earlier than he usually came, perhaps; but I could not tell. He did not notice me at first, and, remembering Drayton's hypothesis, I shrank behind the tall desk, and instinctively kept out of sight for a few uncertain minutes, wondering what I had better do. The clerk called the janitor, and scolded a little about the fire, which he ordered lighted in the grate. It was a cold morning. He said the room would chill a corpse. He had the morning papers in his hand. He unfolded the "Herald," and laid it down upon his own desk, as if about to read it. At that instant, the telegraph clicked, and he pushed the damp, fresh paper away from him, and went immediately to the wires. The young man listened to the message with an expression of great intentness, and wrote rapidly. Moved by some unaccountable impulse, I softly rose and glanced over his shoulder. The dispatch was dated at midnight, and was addressed to Henry Brake. It said: "_Have you seen my husband, to-night?_" and it was signed, "_Helen Thorne._" Oh, poor Helen!... Now, maniac with haste to get to her, it occurred to me that the moment while the clerk was occupied in recording this message was as good a time as I could ask for in which to escape unobserved, as I greatly wished to do. As quietly as I could--and I succeeded in doing it very quietly--I therefore moved to leave the broker's office. As I did so, my eye caught the heading, in large capitals, of the morning news in the open "Herald" which lay upon the desk behind the clerk. I stopped, and stooped, and read. This is what I read:-- SHOCKING ACCIDENT. TERRIBLE TRAGEDY. RUNAWAY AT THE WEST END. _The eminent and popular physician._ _Dr. Esmerald Thorne,_ KILLED INSTANTLY. CHAPTER VII. At this moment, the broker entered the office. With the "Herald" in my hand, I made haste to meet him. "Brake!" I cried, "Mr. Brake! Thank Heaven, you have come! I have passed such a night--and look here! Have you seen this abominable canard? This is what has come of my being locked into your"-- The broker regarded me with a strange look; so strange, that for very amazement I stood still before it. He did not advance to meet me; neither his hand nor his eyes gave me the human sign of welcome; he looked over me, he looked through me, as a man does at one whose acquaintance he has no desire to recognize. I thought:-- "Drayton has cramme
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59  
60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

morning

 

Herald

 

broker

 

looked

 

moment

 

Drayton

 
quietly
 

office

 

Thorne

 
message

strange

 

succeeded

 

SHOCKING

 

RUNAWAY

 
ACCIDENT
 

TRAGEDY

 
TERRIBLE
 

caught

 

heading

 

greatly


wished
 

capitals

 

escape

 

stopped

 

unobserved

 
stooped
 

Heaven

 

advance

 

regarded

 

amazement


desire

 

recognize

 

thought

 

cramme

 

acquaintance

 
CHAPTER
 

entered

 
INSTANTLY
 

KILLED

 

popular


physician

 
Esmerald
 

abominable

 

canard

 

locked

 

passed

 
eminent
 

lighted

 
ordered
 
called