The Lock and Key Library: The most interesting stories of all nations: American
General
The Lock and Key Library: The most interesting stories of all nations: American
Detective and mystery stories; Short stories, American
“It is not due to anything in the room,” said Rebecca again with
the shrill insistency of terror.
“How you act, Rebecca Glynn,” said Caroline.
Henry Glynn stood and stared a moment longer. His face showed a
gamut of emotions—horror, conviction, then furious incredulity.
Suddenly he began hastening hither and thither about the room. He
moved the furniture with fierce jerks, turning ever to see the
effect upon the shadow on the wall. Not a line of its terrible
outlines wavered.
“It must be something in the room!” he declared in a voice which
seemed to snap like a lash.
His face changed. The inmost secrecy of his nature seemed evident
until one almost lost sight of his lineaments. Rebecca stood close
to her sofa, regarding him with woeful, fascinated eyes. Mrs.
Brigham clutched Caroline’s hand. They both stood in a corner out
of his way. For a few moments he raged about the room like a caged
wild animal. He moved every piece of furniture; when the moving of
a piece did not affect the shadow, he flung it to the floor, his
sisters watching.
Then suddenly he desisted. He laughed and began straightening the
furniture which he had flung down.
“What an absurdity,” he said easily. “Such a to-do about a
shadow.”
“That’s so,” assented Mrs. Brigham, in a scared voice which she
tried to make natural. As she spoke she lifted a chair near her.
“I think you have broken the chair that Edward was so fond of,”
said Caroline.
Terror and wrath were struggling for expression on her face. Her
mouth was set, her eyes shrinking. Henry lifted the chair with a
show of anxiety.
“Just as good as ever,” he said pleasantly. He laughed again,
looking at his sisters. “Did I scare you?” he said. “I should
think you might be used to me by this time. You know my way of
wanting to leap to the bottom of a mystery, and that shadow does
look—queer, like—and I thought if there was any way of accounting
for it I would like to without any delay.”
“You don’t seem to have succeeded,” remarked Caroline dryly, with a
slight glance at the wall.
Henry’s eyes followed hers and he quivered perceptibly.
“Oh, there is no accounting for shadows,” he said, and he laughed
again. “A man is a fool to try to account for shadows.”
Then the supper bell rang, and they all left the room, but Henry
kept his back to the wall, as did, indeed, the others.
Mrs. Brigham pressed close to Caroline as she crossed the hall. “He
looked like a demon!” she breathed in her ear.
Henry led the way with an alert motion like a boy; Rebecca brought
up the rear; she could scarcely walk, her knees trembled so.
“I can’t sit in that room again this evening,” she whispered to
Caroline after supper.
“Very well, we will sit in the south room,” replied Caroline. “I
think we will sit in the south parlor,” she said aloud; “it isn’t
as damp as the study, and I have a cold.”
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