The Mystery of the Hasty ArrowGreen, Anna Katharine
General
The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow
Green, Anna Katharine
Detective and mystery stories
"I know that; but for the present perhaps it will be best for me to
follow your lead, and when I have to speak of a certain person, say X as
you do. X, Mr. Gryce, is the man who for reasons we do not yet understand
brought up the discarded bow from the cellar and stored it somewhere
within reach on the floor above. X is also the man who for the same
unknown reason robbed the quiver hanging in the southern gallery of one
of its arrows and kept the same on hand or in hiding, till he could mate
it with the bow. My dreams showed me this picture:
"A man with a predominating interest in sport, but otherwise active in
business, correct in his dealings and respectable in private life, sees
and frequently handles weapons of ancient and modern make which rouse his
interest and awaken the longing, common to such men, to test his skill in
their use. Sometimes it is a sword, which he twirls vigorously in sly
corners. Again, it is a bow calling for a yeoman's strength to pull. He
is a man of sense and for a long time goes no further than the play I
have just indicated. Perhaps he has no temptation to go further until one
unfortunate day he comes upon an idle bow, rotting away in the cellar."
Here Mr. Gryce looked sharply up--a proof of awakened interest which
Sweetwater did not heed. Possibly he was not expected to. At all events
he continued rapidly:
"It was a fine, strong bow, a typical one from the plains. He took it
up--examined it closely--noted a slight defect in it somewhere--and put
it back. But he did not forget it. Before many days had passed, he goes
down cellar again and brings it up and stands it on end in--where do you
think, sir?--in the closet of the Curator's office!"
"How did you learn that?"
"From the woman who comes every day to wipe up the floors. I happened to
think she might have something worth while to tell us, so I hunted her
up----"
"Go on, boy. Another long mark in your favor."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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