+-------------------------------------------------+ |Transcriber's note: | | | |Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | | | +-------------------------------------------------+ THE WEIRD PICTURE [Illustration] THE WEIRD PICTURE By JOHN R. CARLING Author of "The Shadow of the Czar," "The Viking's Skull," etc. _Illustrated by Cyrus Cuneo_ Boston Little, Brown, and Company 1905 _Copyright, 1905_, BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. _All rights reserved._ Published May, 1905. Printers S. J. PARKHILL & CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I THE RED STAIN 1 II THE VEILED LADY 16 III THE WEDDING MORNING 32 IV WAITING! 45 V THE ARTIST PAINTS A NOTABLE PICTURE 58 VI THE MAN AT THE CONFESSIONAL 75 VII WHAT THE "STANDARD" SAID OF THE PICTURE 99 VIII HIGH MASS AND WHAT HAPPENED AT IT 114 IX THE ARTIST FAILS TO SECURE A MODEL 128 X GHOST OR MORTAL? 143 XI MORE OF THE PICTURE 164 XII THE FIGURE IN THE GREY CLOAK 186 XIII WHAT THE ARTIST'S PORTFOLIO REVEALED 207 XIV THE MYSTERIES OF THE STUDIO 231 XV THE DÉNOUEMENT! 251 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "Before my uncle could prevent her she had snatched the letter from him" _Frontispiece_ "The figure turned to meet, but not to greet me. It was my brother's face I saw" _Page_ 10 "'I opened my eyes, and there was a black thing bending over me'" " 183 "His head sunk forward on his breast and his crooked fingers clawing at the air" " 259 The Weird Picture CHAPTER I THE RED STAIN "BELGRAVE SQUARE, _November 28th_. "DEAR FRANK,--Surely you are not going to spend a third Christmas at Heidelberg! We want you with us in good old England. My marriage with Daphne is fixed for Christmas Day, and I shall not regard the ceremony as valid unless you are my best man. So come--_come_--COME! No time to say more. You can guess how busy I am. Write or wire by return.-- Yours, "GEORGE." Such was the letter received by me, Frank Willard, student in Odenwald College, Heidelberg, on the first day of the last month of the year. The writer of the letter was my brother, a captain in the--something. I take a pride in not remembering the number of the regiment, for I am a man of peace and hate war and all connected therewith, excepting, of course, my soldier-brother, though my affection for him had somewhat waned of late years, for a reason that will soon appear.