Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive no gutcheck/jeebies/gutspell Transcriber's Notes: 1. Page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/fourcornersof00masoiala BOOKS BY A. E. W. MASON Published By CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS * * * * * THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD. _net_ $1.50 THE BROKEN ROAD. _net_ $1.35 AT THE VILLA ROSE. Illustrated. _net_ $1.35 THE TURNSTILE. _net_ $1.35 THE WITNESS FOR THE DEFENCE. _net_ $1.35 THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD BY A. E. W. MASON CHARLES SCRIBNERS SONS NEW YORK :: :: :: 1917 Copyright, 1917, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS * * * Published October, 1917 Copyright, 1909, by THE CURTIS PUBLISHING CO. Copyright, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1917, By A. E. W. MASON Copyright, 1914, 1915, 1917, By THE METROPOLITAN MAGAZINE CO. CONTENTS The Clock. Green Paint. North of the Tropic of Capricorn. One of Them. Raymond Byatt. The Crystal Trench. The House of Terror. The Brown Book. The Refuge. Peiffer. The Ebony Box. The Affair at the Semiramis Hotel. Under Bignor Hill. THE CLOCK THE CLOCK I Mr. Twiss was a great walker, and it was his habit, after his day's work was done, to walk from his pleasant office in the Adelphi to his home at Hampstead. On an afternoon he was detained to a later hour than usual by one of his clients, a Captain Brayton, over some matter of a mortgage. Mr. Twiss looked at his office clock. "You are going west, I suppose?" he said. "I wonder if you would walk with me as far as Piccadilly? It will not be very much out of your way, and I have a reason for wishing your company." "By all means," replied Captain Brayton, and the two men set forth.