The Barrel MysteryFlynn, William J. (William James)
General
The Barrel Mystery
Flynn, William J. (William James)
Detective and mystery stories; Fiction
"Calmed of my anger, I went into the house and looked around. I found
a large room that served as a kitchen and a back room for a store-room
on the ground floor. Up the stairway and on the second floor I found
three small rooms and a large room. Another flight of steps led to a
garret. In the large room on the second floor I saw the press. It had
been brought there while I was remaining at the farmhouse near Cina's.
It was the same press I had dickered for. There was a dilapidated bed
in one of the three small rooms on this floor, which Giglio had fixed
up the best he could under the circumstances. As I was looking around
the place I was convinced that I had been led into a trap of some
kind, but it never entered my head that I had been brought up there
for the purpose of printing counterfeit money! I thought that perhaps
they wanted me for printing obscene literature, such as is prohibited
by law, but on looking closer I did not discover any type, and my mind
began to get busy trying to figure out what a press without type and
accessories could be intended for placed in a desolate house in the
backwoods.
"It must have been about eleven o'clock that morning when I saw a
short-set man, possibly twenty-five or thirty years old, driving up.
He was a man of dark complexion with a large moustache, dressed like a
farmer with big shoes and red handkerchief around his neck, wearing a
cap 'A la Sicilian.' He proved to be Cina's brother Peppino. He
entered the house and said that he was bringing the supplies. He set
down a bag of 100 pounds of potatoes, about forty pounds of flour to
make bread, a bottle of olive oil, a case of macaroni, olives, smoked
fish, salt, kerosene, onions and a small form of cheese, as well as
twenty small cans containing tomato sauce. Unloading this stuff
without ever uttering a word, the short-set fellow waved his hand at
Giglio and Bernardo as he started on his way. Before leaving the
house, though, he uttered the words 'Be careful.'
"Giglio now ordered Caterina to cook, saying that he was hungry.
Caterina, realizing that she had to deal with bad people, prepared a
meal. Four days went by and on the fifth Giglio and Bernardo left,
saying that they were going to get something to eat as the provisions
brought by Peppino could not last much longer. We were then living on
baked potatoes and plain bread.
"I remained alone with Caterina in that isolated house for two days
without seeing any one. It was snowing. I could not go out. Those days
passed like so many years. Caterina was taken ill with a fever. I
almost despaired. Where could I go for help? I knew no one and there
was no house nearby. During those awful days suicide was continually
in my mind. Then again the thought would come to me--why should you?
What for? Why abandon my wife, my parents, my relatives? No, I
reflected, better fight it out to the end and see what those bandits
have up their sleeve.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account