Detective and mystery stories; Hoodlums -- Fiction; London (England) -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Murder -- Fiction
With a key which he selected from a large bunch in his pocket, he opened
the door, and stepped out into the garage, carefully closing the door
behind him. An electric pocket-lamp served him with sufficient light to
find his way out into the lane, and very shortly he was proceeding along
Limehouse Causeway. At the moment, indignation was the major emotion
ruling his mind; he resented the form which his anger assumed, for it
was a passion of rebellion, and rebellion is only possible in servants.
It is the part of a slave resenting the lash. He was an unscrupulous,
unmoral man, not lacking in courage of a sort; and upon the conquest of
Mahara, the visible mouthpiece of Mr. King, he had entered in much
the same spirit as that actuating a Kanaka who dives for pearls in a
shark-infested lagoon. He had sought a slave, and lo! the slave was
become the master! Otherwise whence this spirit of rebellion... this
fear?
He occupied himself with such profitless reflections up to the time that
he came to the electric trains; but, from thence onward, his mind became
otherwise engaged. On his way to Piccadilly Circus that same evening, he
had chanced to find himself upon a crowded pavement walking immediately
behind Denise Ryland and Helen Cumberly. His esthetic, Greek soul had
been fired at first sight of the beauty of the latter; and now, his
heart had leaped ecstatically. His first impulse, of course, had been to
join the two ladies; but Gianapolis had trained himself to suspect all
impulses.
Therefore he had drawn near--near enough to overhear their conversation
without proclaiming himself. What he had learned by this eavesdropping
he counted of peculiar value.
Helen Cumberly was arranging to dine with her friend at the latter's
hotel that evening. “But I want to be home early,” he had heard the
girl say, “so if I leave you at about ten o'clock I can walk to Palace
Mansions. No! you need not come with me; I enjoy a lonely walk through
the streets of London in the evening”...
Gianapolis registered a mental vow that Helen's walk should not be a
lonely one. He did not flatter himself upon the possession of a pleasing
exterior, but, from experience, he knew that with women he had a winning
way.
Now, his mind aglow with roseate possibilities, he stepped from the tram
in the neighborhood of Shoreditch, and chartered a taxi-cab. From this
he descended at the corner of Arundel Street and strolled along westward
in the direction of the hotel patronized by Miss Ryland. At a corner
from which he could command a view of the entrance, he paused and
consulted his watch.
It was nearly twenty minutes past ten. Mentally, he cursed Mahara, who
perhaps had caused him to let slip this golden opportunity. But his was
not a character easily discouraged; he lighted a cigarette and prepared
himself to wait, in the hope that the girl had not yet left her friend.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account