The crooked crossDutton, Charles J. (Charles Judson)
General
The crooked cross
Dutton, Charles J. (Charles Judson)
Bartley, John (Fictitious character) -- Fiction; Detective and mystery stories; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction
After all there was no necessity of my moving, for in a moment the
flame again swept the ground in a circle at the man's feet. Wondering
what he might find, and knowing that I could not be seen from where he
was, I rose and walked to the edge of the swamp, but I could see
nothing there. Then, remembering that the ground rose to a pasture at
my left, I carefully started in that direction. And then, after I had
taken one step, my foot slipped upon a branch, and as the branch
rolled over, I fell into the bushes with a crash.
I was not hurt, but at the sound of my fall the flashlight was
suddenly extinguished. For a second I lay still, then, knowing there
was no use to keep silent, arose. And at that second I heard the man
blundering out of the underbrush, and the sound of his running feet.
Instinctively I started to run in the direction which would the
soonest bring me into the open—along the edge of the swamp, up the
little grassy hill, and then I paused an instant to listen.
For a moment I heard nothing, and then down below me, in the direction
of the lake, I heard the sound of running feet. Whoever had been on
the other side of the swamp was taking no chance of being seen. As
this thought struck me, I started down the hillside for the water. The
shore was not so far away, but before I reached it I heard the man
half tumble into a boat, and there came the sound of oars splashing in
the water.
As I reached the shore, almost crashing into the stone wall of the
Warren estate, I heard the faint click of the oars as the man began to
row down the lake. My canoe was on the other side of the wall. To
reach it, I had to stumble as softly as I could around the wall, which
stopped at the water. Lucky for me, though I had to wade, the water
was not above my shoe tops, and it took only a moment to reach the
canoe. I knew I had one advantage. It was almost impossible for the
man to row the boat without making some sound with the oars; but I
could paddle the canoe silently.
As I half fell over the canoe, I paused a second, waiting to catch the
faint sound of the oars; then silently I pushed the canoe into the
water, climbed in, and started to paddle as softly as possible in the
direction of the boat. It was far ahead of me, and the night was so
dark I could see but a few feet in front of me. But once in a while I
could hear the oars click, for the man was rowing with all his speed,
evidently not knowing that I had a canoe.
It had been my idea that as I could paddle faster than he could row, I
could soon reach him. My plan was to let him go ashore, and then as he
stepped out of the boat, to reach his side. One thing above all I
wished to do—see who it might be. After that there were a few
questions I wished to ask.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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