The gamblers

The narrative is, to say the least, a strange one; so strange, indeed, that had I not been one of the actual persons concerned in it I would never have believed such things were...

Reader, have you ever lived in an English _pension_ on the Riviera? Have you ever inhabited a small cubicle containing a chair, a deal table, a narrow bed--with mosquito curtain...

"What awfully good luck you had!" he observed, after we had been chatting some time. "If you'd had the maximum on each time, you'd have won over seven hundred pounds."

The favourite of Fortune, who only a couple of hours before had been so full of life and buoyant spirits, and who had left us with a promise to return within ten minutes, was no...

Visitors to Nice know the great white mansion well. High up above the sea, beyond the Magnan, it stands in the midst of extensive grounds, shaded by date palms, olives and orang...

"It's really absurd," she declared, "that a man of his enormous means should still continue to work as he does. Gerald tells me that he has secret workshops in all his houses, a...

Now, I may be given to harmless frivolities with men of my own age, but I certainly have never endeavoured to attract those of maturer years. Elderly men may have admired me--th...

"You are a perfect stranger, sir," I said, with considerable hauteur. "Until you care to give me your name, and make known who you are, I have no wish to hear this important sta...

For some little time after my mysterious companion had left I sat forward in the box, gazing down at the wild revelry below, and hoping that one or other of the party would reco...

They examined the leather jewellery case, but found no mark upon it, nor upon the paper wrappings. The box was such as might have once contained a bracelet, but the raised velve...

"Then Monsieur le Directeur was tricked, just as you were," he answered gravely. "You say you actually received from the hand of someone who wore an effective disguise the sum s...

Faces, even expressions, may lie, but eyes never learn the knack of falsehood. A man may commit follies; but once cured, those follies expand his nature. With a woman, sad to te...

My foothold was insecure, and the sight which presented itself as I peered within was so unexpected and startling, that in the excitement of the moment I loosened my grip, and n...

The great broad plain which lies between marble-built Pisa and the sea was flooded by the golden Italian sunset, and the background of the serrated Apennines loomed a dark purpl...

Yes, as I stood there on the deck of the _Vispera_, approaching the old sun-whitened Tuscan port, many were the recollections of those long-past careless days which crowded upon...

I alone held knowledge of the dastardly plan formed to blow up the yacht, and was determined that the vessel should not sail again before I had warned my fellow-guests. But how?

The men drank Marsala--always offered in the afternoon in an Italian house--and smoked in the garden, while we women wandered wherever we liked. Those of my companions who had n...

As the coachman was driving at a good pace, I had some difficulty in deciphering the words by the light of the street-lamps as their rays flashed in, and as rapidly disappeared....

The queer-looking old man sitting there before me, fidgeting slightly in his chair, was indeed a very grotesque figure. From what he had said, I could no longer doubt that he wa...

When we think of what Society might be to us, it becomes a painful thing to speak of what it is. When we, who are world-weary, think of the seasons of mental refreshment which m...

The steamer whose siren had awakened the echoes of the port had swung from her moorings, and slowly glided past us to the open sea, making a southward course; while work on the...

We have an ancient proverb in Tuscany which says, "_Rimediare al male fin dal suo principio_." This very excellent maxim I was endeavouring to carry out. But it is always diffic...

So still, so pale, and so bloodless were my mysterious companion's lips, that at the first moment I feared she might be dead. Her appearance was that of a corpse. But after care...

The discovery of Ernest's presence in the car was an entirely fresh development of the mystery. I had been ignorant of his acquaintance with Keppel, but that they were really cl...

I started to walk along the Boulevard towards the Opera. To that woman with the tow-coloured hair, the blue eyes and pink cheeks--the woman who had replaced me in his affections...

This discovery increased the mystery. Yet it was plain that he was acting according to his promise, and was leaving no effort untried in order to solve the problem. But why? Wha...

Even though tired out, I slept but little that night. I tried, times without number, but in vain, to solve the secret of that cipher message--or warning, was it?--written upon t...

I stepped back quickly, while he, with eyes fixed upon that fair-haired woman, who seemed the centre of a miniature court, failed to notice me. Upon his face was a dark, anxious...

The woman Fournereau crossed the room quickly to a small rosewood bureau, and took therefrom a little cardboard box about a couple of inches square, such as is often used for co...

My reader, I have throughout been perfectly frank with you--too frank, perhaps. But need I dwell further upon the stirring events of that night? It is assuredly sufficient to sa...