New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction
Not often did mere man attract attention in the famous dining-room of the “Regal,” but men and women alike, who were seated near the East Archway, raised their eyes to stare at the man who stood in the doorway, calmly surveying them. The smoke-glass, tortoise-shell library spe...
Not often did mere man attract attention in the famous dining-room of the “Regal,” but men and women alike, who were seated near the East Archway, raised their eyes to stare at...
2. Part 2“I know,” assured Colton hastily. “But you take those papers to your room and write down the names of all the vaudeville actors--men, you know--who have quit the stage within th...
3. Part 3Before the astonished men could make move or protest he hurried from the office, automatically counting the steps. He jumped into the waiting machine, Sydney Thames followed, an...
4. Part 4“Of course, De Roque, who was merely the drug-crazed tool of the real criminal, would have told where the bonds were,” declared Thornley Colton, when they were once more in the...
5. Part 5“For six months,” she whispered, “the letters have been coming. They said I must pay, or the world would be told of the curse. I could do nothing else. I burned the letters as f...
6. Part 6Sydney Thames paced the library floor impatiently. Where was Thornley Colton? For three hours he had asked himself that question. The blind problemist had spent fully half an ho...
7. Part 7At Murray Street a deeper inclination of the head was the honour paid a business friend in a passing automobile. At Park Place the blue machine skirted ahead of the traffic bloc...
8. Part 8Yes, Sydney read, and re-read, until the inch paragraph in the lower left-hand corner regarding the activities of a band of international smugglers was a relief. On any other da...
9. Part 9“I suppose you’ll have to have it all,” smiled Colton. “All right. Ten minutes’ intelligent conversation with the chauffeur before the fool detectives arrived gave me practicall...
10. Part 10“You know we loved each other, and we ran away; she, and I, and the six months’ old kid,” he went on. “You know how she died: killed in the C. & O. wreck two hours out of Chicag...
11. Part 11Colton stepped in between the table and the seat edge, and sat down, facing the rear of the rathskeller. “Cartwright was seated at the end of the seat, like this?” He illustrated.
12. Part 12Silence came in the darkened room. When Thornley Colton spoke again his voice was low, solemn, its tone one of reverent wonder. “The death of that girl is one of the higher myst...
13. Part 13“Mr. Norvel?” Colton stepped to meet the man with outstretched hand. Then he answered the surprised looks some inner consciousness told him was on the faces of the other persons...
14. Part 14The blind man’s smile was one of amusement as he answered: “If I had not been blind, I wouldn’t have solved this case, and, if I’m not mistaken in my man, my lack of eyes is goi...
15. Part 15“We can all act! We can play our parts! Be a gay boulevardier of Paris with the false courage of the green poison in the water of your veins!” She spoke vehemently, and her word...
16. Part 16“Poisoned!” It seemed that every one in the room echoed it. The clutched glove at the throat, the deep graven finger-prints of gilt had seemed to point to but one thing.
17. Part 17Ames lifted his eyes from the papers to the impassive face of the blind man. “My God, Mr. Colton!” he cried, and his voice shook with feeling. “Do you realise what you’ve done?...
18. Part 18“I risked everything on my mental ability to follow the workings of the Oriental mind,” Colton said slowly. “The Caucasian mind is always content with mere killing. But the Orie...
19. Part 19“Because we wanted his pals! We wanted to locate the plant! And he went while Jim was watching the door every minute! While my ears were glued to the dictograph-receivers and my...
20. Part 20The blind man’s lips tightened; he ignored the outstretched hand as he pulled on a glove. “Make it _auf wiedersehen_,” he said wearily. “Shrimp and I are going to catch the boat...
21. Part 21“Can you ever forgive me, Thorn?” he asked, speaking for the first time. He had not even raised his eyes to the face of the man he had renounced that morning. Ever since Dryden...
22. Part 22“Can’t!” The smile on the problemist’s face was sardonic as he faced the doctor. “Then no murder was ever committed. If a man’s heart didn’t fail he’d keep right on living. What...
23. Part 23For several minutes the two Chinese talked. Colton stood in the middle of the floor, idly switching his trouser-leg with his slim stick, apparently paying no attention to the tw...
24. Part 24• p. 159: Replaced “Thomas” with “Thames” in phrase “Thames could feel the tenseness of the men’s bodies.” • p. 159: Added comma after “servant” in phrase “He skated straight at...