A Thief in the Night: A Book of Raffles' AdventuresHornung, E. W. (Ernest William)
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A Thief in the Night: A Book of Raffles' Adventures
Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William)
Criminals -- England -- Fiction; Raffles (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
"Then come this way," said the clerk, and led us into a recess almost
monopolized by the iron-clamped chest of thrilling memory, now a mere
platform for the collection of mysterious objects under a dust-sheet on
the lid. "These," he continued, unveiling them with an air, "are the
Raffles Relics, taken from his rooms in the Albany after his death and
burial, and the most complete set we've got. That's his centre-bit,
and this is the bottle of rock-oil he's supposed to have kept dipping
it in to prevent making a noise. Here's the revawlver he used when he
shot at a gentleman on the roof down Horsham way; it was afterward
taken from him on the P. & O. boat before he jumped overboard."
I could not help saying I understood that Raffles had never shot at
anybody. I was standing with my back to the nearest window, my hat
jammed over my brows and my overcoat collar up to my ears.
"That's the only time we know about," the clerk admitted; "and it
couldn't be brought 'ome, or his precious pal would have got more than
he did. This empty cawtridge is the one he 'id the Emperor's pearl in,
on the Peninsular and Orient. These gimlets and wedges were what he
used for fixin' doors. This is his rope-ladder, with the telescope
walking-stick he used to hook it up with; he's said to have 'ad it with
him the night he dined with the Earl of Thornaby, and robbed the house
before dinner. That's his life-preserver; but no one can make out what
this little thick velvet bag's for, with the two holes and the elawstic
round each. Perhaps you can give a guess, sir?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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