Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square: A MysteryFarjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
General
Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square: A Mystery
Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
Detective and mystery stories; London (England) -- Fiction
"The 7th. Last Saturday was the 2nd," said Dick, and thought, "The day
after he went to his father's house late at night, the day after Abel
Death went there in the night in the hope that Samuel Boyd would take
him back again, _the day after the murder!_"
"Yes, Dick, the 7th. I didn't go to Reginald either on that day or on
Sunday. You can imagine how miserable I was. On Monday morning I
received another short letter, in which he asked me again not to come
and see him. The next letter came on Tuesday night when mother and I
were sitting together."
"That was the night of the great fog. Aunt Rob told me you went out in
the afternoon in the thick of it. What did you go out for?"
"I came here to inquire after Reginald. The landlady said he wasn't
well, and that she had just posted a letter to me from him. 'May I go
up and see him?' I asked, and she answered, calling me 'miss,' that he
had given orders that no one was to be allowed up, and that when I had
read the letter I might know what to do. I was far from happy, Dick,
as I walked home through the fog, and a great deal unhappier when the
night postman brought the letter, for there was something in it--I
hardly know what--that made me feel I ought to go to him. I couldn't
ask advice of mother because of my promise to Reginald, which I
wouldn't break; and even if anyone had advised me against what I
believed was right I shouldn't have listened to it. I went to my
bedroom early, and so did mother, and I got out of the house at ten
o'clock and came straight here. In the streets I put on my wedding
ring, which I had not worn at home, of course, only putting it on and
looking at it when I was alone in my room, and I took care that the
landlady should see it when I told her I was a relation of Reginald's
and had come to nurse him. It was time I did, for he was wandering in
his mind, and hadn't called in a doctor because he couldn't afford to
pay for one. Thank God I had a little money in my purse, and I've got
thirty pounds in the Post Office Savings Bank which I've given notice
to take out. Reginald didn't know me, and I was in the most dreadful
trouble about him. All his wandering thoughts were about me and his
father, and I thought what a shocking thing it would be if he were to
die without seeing him. Oh, Dick, my heart was breaking, but I wanted
to do what was right, and I thought it likely, if Mr. Boyd saw
Reginald in the state he was, that his heart would soften towards the
poor boy. I tried to get at his wishes. Bending over him I said, 'Do
you want to see your father?' I said it three or four times, and then
he said, 'Yes, yes, my father, Catchpole Square. The end house in
Catchpole Square. My father--my father!' I called the landlady in, and
asked her if she would stop up with Reginald while I went to fetch
some one he wanted to see. She consented, and I went out. It was very
late when I got to the house in Catchpole Square, and I knocked and
knocked without anyone answering me.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account