Gordon Craig, Soldier of Fortune

"You! why you chance to be the very sort of man I need. The devil could not have sent me a better," he said, with some enthusiasm. "You are an American soldier, the best-drilled...

The Captain--for so I must call him--went up first, after hailing the deck in French, and receiving some answer. Then, under Herman's orders, I was hustled roughly to my feet, a...

"You see, Craig," he continued quietly, apparently comprehending my state of mind, "your little game is up. Not a bad plan originally--something of a criminal genius that fellow...

There was that about her attitude, and the expression of her face, which restrained the fellow. No doubt he suspected for a moment that she might be armed, for his quick glance...

It was then that the power of thought returned to me. However glibly those two conspirators might gild over the affair it nevertheless was a criminal matter to which I had blind...

It was a rather narrow hallway and, with the exception of a thick carpet underfoot, unfurnished. Neale, appearing somewhat more slender in evening clothes, smiled at me genially...

Henley laughed, the sound grating harshly on my nerves, yet I made no movement of protest as he stepped silently back to his desk. I was no longer afraid of the fellow, even alt...

In front of the veranda, and to the right of the brick walk, the latticework of a small summerhouse could be discerned through a maze of shrubbery and weeds. No path led toward...

"What ze dif!" and he swept his hands about in expressive gesture. "Sea--land, if only one gets the price, M'sieur. But for me I like to go, to move; not lie still an' rot."

She was gone before I could speak, before I could even grasp the full purport of her decision. I followed the flutter of her skirt up the stairs, half tempted to rush after, yet...

"I do comprehend," I admitted seriously. "Believe me I have felt the truth of this ever since I first saw your face. You have ample reason for misjudging me, for believing me a...

The flag locker was astern, and standing on it I could feel inside the boat swung to the davits. It was a small, light boat, fashioned like a cutter, a good sea-going craft for...

"At least it would seem that he has been. The seal is a peculiar one, not likely to be duplicated. But I doubt if he is here now, for he could have no reason for avoiding us, un...

I crept back, closed the door behind me, and sat down facing it. My hand shook as I lit a cigar. This was becoming serious, a ghastly tragedy, in the playing of which I scarcely...

I had had time to think, swiftly to be sure, yet clearly enough. Surprised as I was by her statement, yet the truth as thus revealed failed to startle me seriously. Vaguely I ha...

The negro brought the girl's lunch on a tray, and I took it in to her, barely pausing long enough to speak a few encouraging words, for fear of some interruption. Then I sat dow...

The events of the day had changed her greatly. At first, as she came toward me through the crowd near the gate, holding out a neatly gloved hand, I could scarcely realise that t...

It was an old-fashioned living room into which we entered, the floor unswept, the chairs faded and patched. Curtains were drawn closely at the windows, while the single oil lamp...

"The landlady had turned me out," speaking now bitterly and swiftly, "retaining my few belongings, and calling me a foul name which made me cower away like a whipped child. I ha...

Following the first impulse of this alarming discovery I pressed her back into the boat, and crouched low myself behind the protection of the flag locker. The fellow might not h...

The dawn broke gray and desolate, the vista of restless waters growing gradually wider, as the light spread out across the eastern sky. The clouds yet hung thick and low, yieldi...

My time of preparation was brief, yet I already had a plan of operation outlined. In truth, there was small choice left me. I must keep Henley concealed and silent until darknes...

I had never supposed I lacked audacity, yet I found it strangely difficult to again pick up our conversation. This woman puzzled me; was becoming an enigma. She encouraged me, a...

It must be I lay there practically dead for some time. I had no knowledge of being approached, or handled, and yet every pocket was rifled, the revolver jerked from my hand, and...

"Oh, he did, hey! Well, all I know about him is that he blew in here last night with a woman; claimed to be young Henley, and took possession of the place. I reckon it 's about...

I backed against the wall, crouching low, revolver in hand, scarcely venturing to breathe, listening intently for the slightest sound to break the intense silence. My heart beat...

The vision, indistinct in the gloom, was blotted out from me by the intervening sail. It was only as I leaned well to one side that I could distinguish the dim outlines. By that...

I drew in my breath sharply, my lips set in a straight line. Already had I half-suspicioned this truth, and yet there was that about the girl--her manner, her words, even her dr...

This revealment of conditions left me thoroughly puzzled. I was not frightened at the situation, for I largely attributed the fear shown by both Pete and Sallie to negro superst...

I wondered what awaited us ahead in that black mystery of waters; had they discovered yet our absence on board the _Sea Gull_? If so, what would Henley do? Knowing that I had ri...

"I forgot to mention that. Its presence here alone is convincing. It was sent to Charles Henley by his agent, who claimed to have removed it from the finger of the dead man."

It would be some time yet--fifteen or twenty minutes at the best--before I dared attempt to carry out my plan of escape. In spite of the overspreading cloud, and steady rainfall...

I had placed the lumber inside the yard as directed, and was already rehitching the traces, when the man crossed the street slowly, switching his light cane carelessly in the ai...

Masters must have struck me at almost the same instant my fist landed on Henley, for we went down together, his revolver discharging, the flying bullet gouging my shoulder, burn...

For a few moments as I sat thus in silence the obvious way out never once occurred to me. Somehow the memory of my own position had become blotted out in contemplation of the se...

I do not know how others might have looked upon such a proposition as this, but it never occurred to me at the time to doubt the honesty of Vail's statement, nor could I perceiv...

She ministered to me with womanly gentleness, parting the matted hair, and cleansing the wound with water. While in no way serious it was an ugly bruise, and required considerab...