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Staircase at the Heart's Delight - Anna Katharine Green · The Man of the House

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Speaker 1: Part one of The Staircase at the Heart's Delight. This
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Speaker 1: is a LibriVox according all LibriVox recordings are in the
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Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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Speaker 1: librevox dot org. Recording by Carolyn. The Staircase at the
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Speaker 1: Heart's Delight by Anna Catharine Grayne, Part one, as told
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Speaker 1: by mister Grice. In the spring of eighteen forty, the
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Speaker 1: attention of the New York Police was attracted by the
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Speaker 1: many cases of well known men found drowned in the
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Speaker 1: various waters surrounding the lower portion of our great city.
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Speaker 1: Among these may be mentioned the name of Elwood Henderson,
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Speaker 1: the noted tea merchant, who whose remains were washed ashore
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Speaker 1: at a Red Hook point, and of Christopher Bigelow, who
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Speaker 1: was picked up of Groveno's Island after having been in
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Speaker 1: the water for five days. And of another well known
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Speaker 1: millionaire whose name I cannot now recall, but who I remember,
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Speaker 1: was seen to walk towards the East River one March evening,
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Speaker 1: and was not met with again till the fifth of April,
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Speaker 1: when his body floated into one of the dogs near
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Speaker 1: Peck Slip. As it seemed highly improbable that there should
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Speaker 1: have been a concerted action among so many wealthy and
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Speaker 1: distinguished men to end their lives within a few weeks
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Speaker 1: of each other, and all by the same method of drowning.
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Speaker 1: We soon became suspicious that a more serious verdict than
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Speaker 1: that of suicide should have been rendered in the case
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Speaker 1: of Henderson, Bigelow and the other gentlemen I have mentioned. Yet,
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Speaker 1: one fact common to all these cases pointed so conclusively
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Speaker 1: to deliberate intention on the part of the sufferers that
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Speaker 1: we hesitated to take action. This was that upon the
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Speaker 1: body of each of the above mentioned persons there were
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Speaker 1: found not only valuables in the shape of money and jewelry,
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Speaker 1: but papers and memoranda of a nature calculated to fix
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Speaker 1: the identity of the drowned man, in case the water
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Speaker 1: should rob him of his personal characteristics. Consequently, we could
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Speaker 1: not ascribe these deaths to a desire for plunder on
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Speaker 1: the part of some un known person. I was a
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Speaker 1: young man in those days and full of ambition, So
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Speaker 1: though I said nothing, I did not let this matter
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Speaker 1: drop when the others did, but kept my mind persistently
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Speaker 1: upon it, and waited, with odd results. As you will hear,
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Speaker 1: for another victim to be reported at police headquarters. Meantime,
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Speaker 1: I sought to discover some bond or connection between the
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Speaker 1: several men who had been found drowned, which would serve
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Speaker 1: to explain their similar fate. But all my efforts in
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Speaker 1: this direction were fruitless. There was no bond between them,
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Speaker 1: and the matter remained for a while and unsolved mystery. Suddenly,
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Speaker 1: one morning a clue was plused, not in my hands,
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Speaker 1: but in those of a superior official, who at that
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Speaker 1: time exerted a great influence over the whole force. He
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Speaker 1: was sitting in his private room when there was ushered
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Speaker 1: into his presence a young man of a dissipated but
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Speaker 1: not unprepossessing appearance, who, after a pause of marked embarrassment,
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Speaker 1: entered upon the following story. I don't know whether or
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Speaker 1: no I should offer an excuse for the communication I
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Speaker 1: am about to make. But the matter I have to
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Speaker 1: relate is simply this being hard up last night. For
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Speaker 1: though a Richmond's sun, I often lack money. I went
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Speaker 1: to a certain pawn shop in the Bowery, where I
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Speaker 1: had been told I could raise money on my prospects.
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Speaker 1: This place you may see it sometimes or will not
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Speaker 1: enlarge upon it did not strike me favorably, But being
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Speaker 1: very anxious for a certain definite sum of money, I
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Speaker 1: wrote my name in a book which was brought to
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Speaker 1: me from some unknown quarter, and proceeded to follow the
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Speaker 1: young woman who attended me into what she was pleased
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Speaker 1: to call her good master's private office. He may have
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Speaker 1: been a good master, but he was anything but a
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Speaker 1: good man in short, Sir, when he found out who
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Speaker 1: I was and how much I needed money, he suggested
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Speaker 1: that I should make an appointment with my father at
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Speaker 1: a place he called Judas in Grand Strait, where said he,
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Speaker 1: your little affair will be arranged, and you made a
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Speaker 1: rich man within thirty days. That is, he slyly added,
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Speaker 1: unless your father has already made a will inheriting you.
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Speaker 1: I was shocked, Sir, shocked beyond all my powers of concealment.
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Speaker 1: Not so much at his words, which I hardly understood,
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Speaker 1: as at his looks, which had a world of evil
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Speaker 1: suggestion in them. So I raised my fist and would
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Speaker 1: have knocked him down, only that I found two young
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Speaker 1: fellows at my elbow, who held me quiet for five
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Speaker 1: minutes while the old fellow talked to me. He asked
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Speaker 1: me if I came to him on a fool's errand
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Speaker 1: or really to get the money. And when I admitted
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Speaker 1: that I had cherished hopes of obtaining a clear two
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Speaker 1: thousand dollars from him, he coolly replied that he knew
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Speaker 1: of but one way in which I could hope to
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Speaker 1: get such an amount, and that if I was too
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Speaker 1: squeamish to adopt it, I had made a mistake in
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Speaker 1: coming to his shop, which was no missionary institution, etcetera,
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Speaker 1: et cetera. Not wishing to irritate him, for there was
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Speaker 1: menace in his eye, I asked, with a certain weak
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Speaker 1: show of being sorry for my former heat, whereabouts in
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Speaker 1: Grand Straight I should find this Judah. The retort was quick.
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Speaker 1: Judah is not his name, said he, and Grand Straight
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Speaker 1: is not where you are to go to find him.
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Speaker 1: I threw out a bait to see if you would
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Speaker 1: snap at it. But I find you timid, and therefore
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Speaker 1: advise you to drop the matter entire lady. I was
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Speaker 1: quite willing to do so, and answered him to this effect, whereupon,
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Speaker 1: with a side glance I did not understand, but which
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Speaker 1: made me more or less uneasy in regard of his intentions.
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Speaker 1: Towards me. He motioned to the men who held my
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Speaker 1: arms to let go their hole, which they at once did.
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Speaker 1: We have your signature, growled the old man as I
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Speaker 1: went out. If you peach on us or trouble us
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Speaker 1: in any way, we will show it to your father,
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Speaker 1: and that will put an end to all your hopes
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Speaker 1: of future fortune. Then, raising his voice, he shouted to
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Speaker 1: the girl in the outer office. Let the young man
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Speaker 1: see what he has signed. She smiled and again brought
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Speaker 1: forward the book in which I had so recklessly placed
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Speaker 1: my name, and there at the top of the page
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Speaker 1: I read these words for moneys received. I agree to
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Speaker 1: notify Levy Solomon within the month of the death of
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Speaker 1: my father, that he may recover from me, without loss
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Speaker 1: of time, the sum of ten thirds and dulles from
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Speaker 1: the amount I am bound to receive as my father's heir.
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Speaker 1: This sight of these lines knocked me hollow, But I
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Speaker 1: am less of a coward morally than physically, and I
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Speaker 1: determined to acquaint my father at once with what I
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Speaker 1: had done and get his advice as to whether or
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Speaker 1: not I should inform the police of my adventure. He
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Speaker 1: heard me with more consideration than I expected but insisted
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Speaker 1: that I should immediately make known to you my experience
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Speaker 1: in this bowery pawnbroker's shop. The officer, highly interested, took
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Speaker 1: down the young man's statement in writing, and, after getting
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Speaker 1: a more accurate description of the Jew's house, allowed his
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Speaker 1: visitor to go. Fortunately for me, I was in the
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Speaker 1: building at the time and was able to respond when
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Speaker 1: a man was called up to investigate this matter. Thinking
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Speaker 1: that I saw a connection between it and the various
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Speaker 1: mysterious deaths of which I have previously spoken, I entered
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Speaker 1: into the affair with much spirit, but wishing to be
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Speaker 1: sure that my possibly unwarranted conclusions were correct. I took
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Speaker 1: pains to inquire before proceeding upon my errand into the
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Speaker 1: character of the ass who had inherited the property of
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Speaker 1: Elwood Henderson and Christopher Bigelow, and found that in each
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Speaker 1: case there was one among the rest who was well
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Speaker 1: known for his profligacy and reckless expenditure. It was a
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Speaker 1: significant discovery and increased, if possible, my interest in running
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Speaker 1: down this nefarious trafficer in the lives of wealth the man.
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Speaker 1: Knowing that I could hope for no success in my
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Speaker 1: character of detective, I made an arrangement with the father
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Speaker 1: of the young gentleman before alluded to, by which I
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Speaker 1: was to enter the pawn shop as an emissary of
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Speaker 1: the latter. I accordingly appeared there one dull November afternoon,
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Speaker 1: in the garb of a certain western sporting man, who,
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Speaker 1: for a consideration allowed me the temporary use of his
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Speaker 1: name and credentials. Entering beneath the three golden balls, with
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Speaker 1: the swager and general air of ownership, I thought most
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Speaker 1: likely to impose upon the self satisfied female who presided
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Speaker 1: over the desk, I asked to see her boss, on
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Speaker 1: your own business, she queried, glancing with suspicion at my
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Speaker 1: short coat, which was rather more showy than elegant. No,
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Speaker 1: I returned, not on my own business, but on that
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Speaker 1: of a young gent anyone whose name is written here,
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Speaker 1: she interposed, reaching towards me the famous book, over the
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Speaker 1: top of which, however, she was careful to lay her arm.
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Speaker 1: I glanced down the page she had opened, and instantly
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Speaker 1: detected that of the young gentleman on whose behalf I
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Speaker 1: was supposed to be there, and nodded yes, with all
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Speaker 1: the assurance of which I was capable very well. Then
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Speaker 1: she said, Come, and she ushered me without much ado,
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Speaker 1: into a din of discomfort, where sat a man with
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Speaker 1: a great and such heavy, overhanging eyebrows that I could
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Speaker 1: hardly detect the twinkle of his eyes, keen and incisive
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Speaker 1: as they were smiling upon him, but not in the
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Speaker 1: same way I had upon the girl. I glanced behind
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Speaker 1: me at the open door, and above me at the
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Speaker 1: partitions which failed to rage the ceiling. Then I shook
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Speaker 1: my head and drew a step nearer. I have come,
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Speaker 1: I insinuatingly whispered on behalf of a certain party, who
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Speaker 1: left this place and a half a day or so ago,
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Speaker 1: but who since then has had time to think the
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Speaker 1: matter over, and has sent me with an apology, which
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Speaker 1: he hopes here I put on a diabolical smile, copied.
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Speaker 1: I declare to you, from the one I saw at
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Speaker 1: that moment on his own lips, you will accept. The
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Speaker 1: old wretch regarded me for a full two minutes in
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Speaker 1: a way to unmask me. Had I possessed less confidence
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Speaker 1: in my disguise and in my ability to support it?
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Speaker 1: And what is this young gentleman's name? He finally asked
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Speaker 1: for a reply. I handed him a slip of paper.
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Speaker 1: He took it and read the few lines written on it,
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Speaker 1: after which he began to rub his palms together with
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Speaker 1: a snaky unction, eminently in keeping with the stray glints
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Speaker 1: of light that now and then found their way through
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Speaker 1: his bushy eyebrows. And so the young gentleman had not
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Speaker 1: the courage to come again himself. He softly suggested, with
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Speaker 1: just the suspicion of an ironical laugh, thought, perhaps I
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Speaker 1: would exact too much commission or make him pay too
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Speaker 1: roundly for his impertinent assurance. I shrugged my shoulders, but
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Speaker 1: a vouch saved no immediate reply, and he saw that
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Speaker 1: he had to open the business himself. He did it
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Speaker 1: wearily and with many an incisive question which would have
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Speaker 1: tripped me up if I had not been very much
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Speaker 1: on my guard. But it all ended, as such matters
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Speaker 1: usually do, in mutual understanding, and to promise that if
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Speaker 1: the young gentleman was willing to sign a certain paper,
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Speaker 1: which by the way, was not shown me, he would,
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Speaker 1: in exchange change give him an address, which, if made
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Speaker 1: proper use of, would lead to my patron finding himself
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Speaker 1: an independent man within a very few days. And of
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Speaker 1: Part one, Part two of the Staircase at the Heart's
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Speaker 1: Delight by Anna Catharine Greene. This LibriVox recording is in
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Speaker 1: the public domain recording by Carolyn Part two. As this
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Speaker 1: address was the thing above all others which I most desired,
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Speaker 1: I professed myself satisfied with the arrangement, and proceeded to
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Speaker 1: hunt up my patron, as he was called. Informing him
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Speaker 1: of the result of my visit, I asked if his
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Speaker 1: interest in ferytying out these criminals was strong enough to
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Speaker 1: lead him to sign the vile document which the Jew
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Speaker 1: would probably have in readiness for him on the morrow, And,
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Speaker 1: being told it was, we separated for that day with
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Speaker 1: the understanding that we were to meet the next morning
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Speaker 1: at the spot chosen by the Jew for the completion
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Speaker 1: of his nefarious bargain. Being certain that I was being
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Speaker 1: followed in all my movements by the agents of this
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Speaker 1: adept in Villainy, I took care upon leaving mister l
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Speaker 1: to repair to the hotel of the sporting man I
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Speaker 1: was personifying making myself square with the proprietor. I took
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Speaker 1: up my quarters in the room of my sporting friend,
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Speaker 1: and the better to deceive any spy who might be
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Speaker 1: lurking about. I received his letters and sent out his telegrams, which,
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Speaker 1: if they did not create confusion in the affairs of
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Speaker 1: the plunger, must at least have occasioned him no little work.
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Speaker 1: The next day, promptly, at ten o'clock on the following morning,
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Speaker 1: I met my patron at the place of rendezvous appointed
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Speaker 1: by the old Jew. And when I tell you that
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Speaker 1: this was no other than the old cemetery, of which
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Speaker 1: a portion is still to be seen off Chatham Square,
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Speaker 1: you will understand the uncanny nature of this whole adventure,
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Speaker 1: and the lurking sense there was in it of brooding
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Speaker 1: death and horror. This scene, which in these days is
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Speaker 1: disturbed by elevated railroad trains and the flapping of long
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Speaker 1: lines of party color clothes strung high up across the
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Speaker 1: quiet tombstones, was at that time one of peaceful rest
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Speaker 1: in the midst of a quarter devoted to everything for
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Speaker 1: which that rest is the fitting and desirable end. And
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Speaker 1: as we paused among the mossy stones, we found it
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Speaker 1: hard to realize that in a few minutes there would
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Speaker 1: be standing beside us the concentrated essence of all that
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Speaker 1: was evil and despicable inhuman nature. He arrived with a
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Speaker 1: smile on his countenance that completed his ugliness and would
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Speaker 1: have frightened any honest man from his side. At once
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Speaker 1: merely glancing my way, he shuffled up to my companion, and,
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Speaker 1: leading him aside, drew out a pair vapor which he
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Speaker 1: laid on a flat tombstone, with a gesture significant of
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Speaker 1: his desire that the other should affix to it the
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Speaker 1: required signature. Meantime, I stood guard, and, while attempting to
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Speaker 1: whistle a light air, was carelessly taking in the surroundings
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Speaker 1: and conjecturing as best I might the reasons which had
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Speaker 1: induced the old gowl to make use of this spot
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Speaker 1: for his diabolical business, and had about decided that it
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Speaker 1: was because he was a gowl and thus felt at
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Speaker 1: home among the symbols of mortality. When I caught sight
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Speaker 1: of two or three young fellows who were lounging on
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Speaker 1: the other side of the fence. These were so evidently
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Speaker 1: accomplices that I wondered if the two sly boys I
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Speaker 1: had engaged to stand by me through this affair had
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Speaker 1: spotted them and would know enough to follow them back
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Speaker 1: to their haunts. A few minutes later, the old rascal
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Speaker 1: came sneaking towards me with a gleam of satisfaction in
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Speaker 1: his half closed eyes. You are not wanted any longer,
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Speaker 1: he grunted. The young gentleman told me to say that
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Speaker 1: he could look out for himself. Now. The young gentleman
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Speaker 1: had better pay me the round fifty he promised me.
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Speaker 1: I grumbled in return, with that sudden change from indifference
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Speaker 1: to menace, which I thought best calculated to further my plans.
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Speaker 1: And shouldering the miserable retch aside, I stepped up to
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Speaker 1: my companion, who was still lingering in a state of
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Speaker 1: hesitation among the gravestones. Quick tell me the number in
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Speaker 1: street which he has given you, I whispered, in a
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Speaker 1: tone strangely in contrast with the angry and reproachful air
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Speaker 1: I had assumed he was about to answer, when the
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Speaker 1: old fellow came sliding up behind us. Instantly, the young
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Speaker 1: man before me rose to the occasion, and, putting on
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Speaker 1: an air of conciliation, said, in a soothing tone, there there,
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Speaker 1: don't bluster. Do one thing more for me, and I
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Speaker 1: will add another fifty to those I promised you. Conjure
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Speaker 1: up an anonymous letter you know how, and send it
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Speaker 1: to my father, saying that if he wants to know
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Speaker 1: where his son loses his hundreds, he must go to
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Speaker 1: the place on the dock opposite five south straight some
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Speaker 1: night shortly after nine. It would not work with most men,
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Speaker 1: but it will with my father. And when he has
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Speaker 1: been in and out of that place, and I succeed
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Speaker 1: to the fortune, he will leave me. Then I will
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Speaker 1: remember you, and say too, A sinister voice here added
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Speaker 1: in my ear that if he wishes to effect an
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Speaker 1: entrance into the gambling din which his son haunts, he
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Speaker 1: must take the precaution of tying a bit of blue
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Speaker 1: ribbon in his button hole. It is a signal meaning business,
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Speaker 1: and must not be forgotten. Chuckled the old fellow, evidently
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Speaker 1: deceived at least into thinking I was really one of
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Speaker 1: his own kind, I answered by a wink, and taking
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Speaker 1: care to attempt no further communication with my patron, I
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Speaker 1: left the two as soon as possible and went back
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Speaker 1: to the hotel, where I dropped the sport and assumed
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Speaker 1: a character and dress which enabled me to make my
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Speaker 1: way undetected to the house of my young patron, where
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Speaker 1: for two days I lay low, waiting for a suitable
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Speaker 1: time in which to make my final attempt to penetrate
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Speaker 1: this mystery. I knew that for the adventure I was
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Speaker 1: now contemplating, considerable courage was required, but I did not hesitate.
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Speaker 1: The time had come for me to show my mettal.
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Speaker 1: In the few communications I was able to hold with
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Speaker 1: my superiors, I told them of my progress and arranged
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Speaker 1: with them my plan of work, As we all agreed
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Speaker 1: that I was about to encounter no common villainy. These
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Speaker 1: plans naturally partook of finesse, as you will see if
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Speaker 1: you follow my narrative to the end. Early in the
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Speaker 1: evening of a cool November night, I sallied forth into
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Speaker 1: the straits, dressed in the habiliments and wearing the guise
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Speaker 1: of the wealthy old gentleman, whose secret guest I had
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Speaker 1: been for the last few days. As he was old
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Speaker 1: and portly, and I young and spare, his disguise had
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Speaker 1: cost me no little thought and labor. But assisted as
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Speaker 1: I was by the darkness, I had but little fear
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Speaker 1: of betraying myself to any chance spy who might be
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Speaker 1: upon the watch, especially as mister l had a peculiar
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Speaker 1: walk which in my short stay with him, I had
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Speaker 1: learned to imitate perfectly. In the lapel of my overcoat,
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Speaker 1: I had tied a tag of blue ribbon, and though
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Speaker 1: for all I knew this was a signal devoting me
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Speaker 1: to a secret and mysterious death, I walked along in
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Speaker 1: a buoyant condition of mind, attributable no doubt to the
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Speaker 1: excitement of the venture and to my desire to test
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Speaker 1: my powers, even at the risk of my life. It
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Speaker 1: was nine o'clock when I reached south Straight. It was
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Speaker 1: no new region for me, nor was I ignorant of
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Speaker 1: the specified drinking din on the dock to which I
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Speaker 1: had been directed. I remembered it as a bright spot
26:43
Speaker 1: in a mass of ship prows and bow rigging, and
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Speaker 1: was possessed besides, of a vague consciousness that there was
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Speaker 1: something odd in connection with it, which had aroused my
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Speaker 1: curiosity sufficiently in the past for me to have once
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Speaker 1: formed the resolution of seeing it again under circumstances which
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Speaker 1: would allow me to give it some attention. But I
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Speaker 1: never thought that the circumstances would involve my own life. Impossible,
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Speaker 1: as it is for a detective to reckon upon the
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Speaker 1: future or to foresee the events into which he will
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Speaker 1: be hurried by the next crime, which may be reported
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Speaker 1: at police headquarters. There were but few persons in the
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Speaker 1: strait when I crossed to the Hut's Delight, so named
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Speaker 1: from the heart shaped opening in the framework of the door,
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Speaker 1: through which shone a light, inviting enough to one chilled
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Speaker 1: by the keen November air and oppressed by the desolate
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Speaker 1: appearance of the almost deserted strait. But amongst these persons,
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Speaker 1: since I thought I recognized more than one familiar form,
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Speaker 1: and felt reassured as to the watch which had been
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Speaker 1: set upon the house. The night was so dark, and
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Speaker 1: the river especially so, But in the gloomy space beyond
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Speaker 1: the dock I detected a shadow blacker than the rest,
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Speaker 1: which I took for the police boat they had promised
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Speaker 1: to have in readiness in case I needed rescue from
28:28
Speaker 1: the waterside. Otherwise, the surroundings were as usual, and saving
28:34
Speaker 1: the gruff singing of some drunken sailor coming from a
28:39
Speaker 1: narrow side straight near by, no sound disturbed the somewhat
28:45
Speaker 1: lugubrious silence of this weird and forsaken spot. Pausing an
28:54
Speaker 1: instant before entering, I glanced up at the building, which
28:58
Speaker 1: was about a three story high, and endeavored to see
29:03
Speaker 1: what there was about it which had once arrested my attention,
29:08
Speaker 1: and came to the conclusion that it was its exceptional
29:12
Speaker 1: situation on the dock, and the ghostly effect of the
29:17
Speaker 1: hoisting beam projecting from the upper story like a gibbet.
29:23
Speaker 1: And yet this beam was common to many a warehouse
29:28
Speaker 1: in the vicinity, though in none of them were there
29:32
Speaker 1: any such signs of life as proceeded from the curious
29:37
Speaker 1: mixture of sail loft, boat shop and drinking saloon now
29:42
Speaker 1: before me? Could it be that the ban of criminality
29:47
Speaker 1: was upon the house? And that I had been conscious
29:50
Speaker 1: of this without being able to realize the cause of
29:54
Speaker 1: my interest. Not stopping to solve my sensations further, I
30:01
Speaker 1: tried the door, and, finding it yield easily to my touch,
30:06
Speaker 1: turned to the knob and entered. For a moment I
30:10
Speaker 1: was blinded by the smoky glare of the heated atmosphere
30:14
Speaker 1: into which I stepped, but presently I was able to
30:18
Speaker 1: distinguish the vague outlines of an oyster bar in the distance,
30:25
Speaker 1: and the motionless figures of some half dozen men whose
30:30
Speaker 1: movements had been arrested by my sudden entrance. For an
30:35
Speaker 1: instant this picture remained. Then the drinking and card playing
30:41
Speaker 1: were resumed, and I stood, as it were, alone on
30:46
Speaker 1: the sanded floor near the door, improving the opportunity for
30:52
Speaker 1: a closer inspection of the place. I was struck by
30:56
Speaker 1: its picturesqueness. It had evidently being once used as a
31:02
Speaker 1: ship chandler ray, And on the walls, which were but
31:06
Speaker 1: partly plastered, there still hung old bits of merlin, rusty rings,
31:13
Speaker 1: and such other evidences of former traffic as did not
31:18
Speaker 1: interfere with the present more lucrative business. Below there were
31:25
Speaker 1: two bars, one at the right of the door, and
31:28
Speaker 1: the other at the lower end of the room, near
31:31
Speaker 1: a window through whose small square panes I caught a
31:36
Speaker 1: glimpse of the colored lights of a couple of ferry
31:39
Speaker 1: boats passing each other in mid stream. At a table
31:46
Speaker 1: near me sat two men grumbling at each other over
31:50
Speaker 1: a game of cards. They were large and powerful figures
31:56
Speaker 1: in the contracted space of this long and narrow road room,
32:00
Speaker 1: and my heart gave a bound of joy as I
32:03
Speaker 1: recognized on them certain marks by which I was to
32:07
Speaker 1: know friend from foe In this possible din of thieves
32:11
Speaker 1: and madras, two sailors at the bar where Bona Fida
32:17
Speaker 1: habitues of the place, and so I judged to be
32:22
Speaker 1: the one or two other specimens of water side character
32:26
Speaker 1: whose backs I could faintly discern. In one of the
32:30
Speaker 1: dim corners. Meantime, a man was approaching me. Let me
32:37
Speaker 1: see if I can describe him. He was about thirty
32:42
Speaker 1: and had the complexion and figure for consumptive, but his
32:46
Speaker 1: eyes shone with the yellow glare of a beast of prey,
32:51
Speaker 1: and in the cadaverous hollows of his ashen cheeks, and
32:55
Speaker 1: amid the lines about his thin drawn lips, there lay
33:01
Speaker 1: for all his conciliatory smile, an expression so cold and
33:07
Speaker 1: yet so ferocious, that I spotted him at once as
33:11
Speaker 1: the man to whose genius we were indebted for the
33:16
Speaker 1: new scheme of murder, which I was jeopardizing my life
33:22
Speaker 1: to understand. But I allowed none of the repugnance with
33:27
Speaker 1: which he inspired me to appear in my manner, and,
33:31
Speaker 1: grating him with half a nought, waited for him to speak.
33:37
Speaker 1: His voice had a smooth quality which betrays the hypocrite,
33:44
Speaker 1: has the gentleman an appointment. Here he asked, letting his
33:49
Speaker 1: glance fall for the merest instant on the lapel of
33:53
Speaker 1: my coat. I returned a decided affirmative, or I went on,
34:01
Speaker 1: with a meaning look. He evidently comprehended. My son has,
34:07
Speaker 1: and I have made up my mind to know just
34:10
Speaker 1: what deviltry he is up to these days. You see,
34:15
Speaker 1: I can make it worth your while to give me
34:17
Speaker 1: the opportunity. Oh I see, he assented, with a glance
34:24
Speaker 1: at the pocket book I had just drawn out. You
34:28
Speaker 1: want a private room from which you can watch the
34:31
Speaker 1: young skip grace. I understand, I understand. But the private
34:38
Speaker 1: rooms are above. Gentlemen are not comfortable here, I should
34:44
Speaker 1: say not, I murmured, and drew from the pocket book
34:48
Speaker 1: a bill, which I slid quietly into his hand. Now
34:53
Speaker 1: take me where I shall be safe, I suggested, And
34:57
Speaker 1: yet in full sight of the room where the young
35:00
Speaker 1: gentleman play, I wished to catch him at his tricks. Afterwards,
35:08
Speaker 1: all will be well, he finished smoothly, with another glance
35:13
Speaker 1: at my blue ribbon. You see, I do not ask
35:17
Speaker 1: you the young gentleman's name. I take your money and
35:20
Speaker 1: to leave all the rest to you. Only don't make
35:24
Speaker 1: a scandal, I pray for my house has the name
35:28
Speaker 1: of being quiet. Yes, I thought too quiet, and for
35:35
Speaker 1: an instant felt my spirits fail me. But it was
35:39
Speaker 1: only for an instant. I had friends about me, and
35:43
Speaker 1: a pistol at half cock in the pocket of my overcoat.
35:47
Speaker 1: Why should I fear any surprise? Prepared as I was
35:51
Speaker 1: for every emergency and of Part two Part three of
36:05
Speaker 1: the Staircase at the Hut's Delight by Anna Catherine Grayne.
36:10
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by
36:14
Speaker 1: Carolyn Part three. I will show you up in a moment,
36:21
Speaker 1: said he, and left me to put up a heavy
36:25
Speaker 1: board shutter over the window opening on the river. Was
36:30
Speaker 1: this a signal or a precaution? I glanced towards my
36:36
Speaker 1: two friends playing cards, took another note of their broad
36:40
Speaker 1: shoulders and brawny arms, and prepared to follow my host,
36:46
Speaker 1: who now stood bowing at the other end of the
36:49
Speaker 1: room before a covered staircase, which was manifestly the sole
36:55
Speaker 1: means of reaching the floor above. This stair case was
37:00
Speaker 1: quite a feature in the room. It ran from back
37:04
Speaker 1: to front and was boarded all the way up to
37:07
Speaker 1: the ceiling. On these boards hung a few useless bits
37:12
Speaker 1: of chine wire and knotted ends of tarred ropes which
37:18
Speaker 1: swung to and fro as the sharp November blast struck
37:23
Speaker 1: the building, giving out a weird and strangely muffled sound.
37:29
Speaker 1: Why did this sound so easily to be accounted for?
37:35
Speaker 1: Ring in my ear like a note of warning? I
37:39
Speaker 1: understand now, but I did not then. Full of expectation,
37:44
Speaker 1: as I was for development out of the ordinary. Crossing
37:50
Speaker 1: the room, I entered upon the staircase in the wake
37:54
Speaker 1: of my companion. Though the two minute carts did not
37:58
Speaker 1: look up. As I passed them, I noticed that they
38:02
Speaker 1: were alert and ready for any signal I might choose
38:06
Speaker 1: to give them. But I was not ready to give
38:09
Speaker 1: one yet. I must see danger before I summoned help,
38:13
Speaker 1: and there was no token of danger yet. When we
38:18
Speaker 1: were about half way up the stairs, the faint light
38:22
Speaker 1: which had illuminated us from below, suddenly vanished, and we
38:26
Speaker 1: found ourselves in total darkness. The door at the front
38:32
Speaker 1: had been closed by a careful hand, and I felt,
38:36
Speaker 1: rather than heard, the stealthy pushing of a bolt across it.
38:43
Speaker 1: My first impulse was to forsake my guide and rush back,
38:48
Speaker 1: but I subdued the unworthy impulse, and stood quite still,
38:53
Speaker 1: while my companion, exclaiming, damn that fellow, what does he
38:58
Speaker 1: mean by shutting the door before we're half way up,
39:02
Speaker 1: struck a match and lit a gas jet in the
39:05
Speaker 1: room above, which poured a flood of light upon the staircase.
39:12
Speaker 1: Drawing my hand from the pocket in which I had
39:15
Speaker 1: put my revolver, I hastened after him into the small
39:19
Speaker 1: landing at the top of the stairs. An open door
39:24
Speaker 1: was before me, in which he stood bowing, with the
39:28
Speaker 1: half burnt match in his hand. This is the place, sir,
39:34
Speaker 1: he announced, motioning me in. I entered, and he remained
39:40
Speaker 1: by the door while I passed quickly about the room,
39:45
Speaker 1: which was bare of every article of furniture save a
39:49
Speaker 1: solitary table and chair. There was not even a window
39:54
Speaker 1: in it, with the exception of one small light situated
39:59
Speaker 1: so high up in the corner made by the jutting
40:02
Speaker 1: up staircase, that I wondered at its use, and was
40:06
Speaker 1: only relieved of extreme apprehension at the prison like appearance
40:12
Speaker 1: of the place by the gleam of light which came
40:16
Speaker 1: through this dusty pane, showing that I was not entirely
40:21
Speaker 1: removed from the presence of my foes, if I was
40:25
Speaker 1: from that of my friends. Ah, you have spied the window,
40:32
Speaker 1: remarked my host, advancing toward me with the countenance he
40:37
Speaker 1: vainly endeavored to make reassuring and friendly. That is your
40:43
Speaker 1: post of observation, sir, he whispered, with a great show
40:48
Speaker 1: of mystery. By mounting on the table, you can peer
40:52
Speaker 1: into the room where my young friends sit securely at play.
40:59
Speaker 1: As it was no part of my scheme to show
41:01
Speaker 1: any special mistrust, I merely smiled a little grimly and
41:07
Speaker 1: cast a glance at the table, on which stood a
41:11
Speaker 1: bottle of brandy and one glass. Very good brandy, he whispered,
41:19
Speaker 1: not such stuff as we give those fellows downstairs. I
41:25
Speaker 1: shrugged my shoulders, and he slowly backed towards the door.
41:32
Speaker 1: The young men you bid me watch are very quiet,
41:35
Speaker 1: I suggested, with a careless wave of my hand towards
41:40
Speaker 1: the room he had mentioned. Oh, there's no one there yet.
41:46
Speaker 1: They begin to straggle in about ten o'clock. Ah, was
41:51
Speaker 1: my quiet rejoinder. I am likely then to have use
41:56
Speaker 1: for your brandy. He smiled again, and made a swift
42:01
Speaker 1: motion towards the door. If you want anything, said, he
42:08
Speaker 1: just step to the foot of the staircase, and let
42:11
Speaker 1: me now the whole establishment is at your service. And
42:16
Speaker 1: with one final grin that remains in my mind as
42:20
Speaker 1: the most threatening and diabolical I have ever witnessed, he
42:25
Speaker 1: laid his hand on the knob of the door and
42:29
Speaker 1: slid quickly out. It was done with such an air
42:35
Speaker 1: of final farewell that I felt my apprehensions take a
42:40
Speaker 1: positive form. Rushing towards the door through which he had
42:45
Speaker 1: just vanished, I listened and heard, as I thought, his
42:50
Speaker 1: stealthy feet descend the stair But when I sought to follow,
42:57
Speaker 1: I found myself for the second time over whelmed by darkness.
43:02
Speaker 1: The gas jet, which had hitherto burnt with great brightness
43:07
Speaker 1: in the small room, had been turned off from below
43:12
Speaker 1: and beyond the faint glimmer which found its way through
43:16
Speaker 1: the small window of which I have spoken, not a
43:20
Speaker 1: ray of light now disturbed the heavy gloom of this
43:24
Speaker 1: gruesome apartment. I had a thought of every contingency but this,
43:32
Speaker 1: and for a few minutes my spirits were dashed. But
43:36
Speaker 1: I soon recovered some remnants of self possession and began
43:41
Speaker 1: feeling for the knob I could no longer see finding it.
43:46
Speaker 1: After a few futile attempts, I was relieved to discover
43:50
Speaker 1: that this door at least was not locked, and opening
43:54
Speaker 1: it with a careful hand, I listened intently, but could
43:59
Speaker 1: hear nothing. So I the smothered sound of men talking
44:03
Speaker 1: in the room below. Should I signal for my companions? No,
44:11
Speaker 1: for the secret was not yet minus to how men
44:14
Speaker 1: passed from this room into the watery grave, which was
44:19
Speaker 1: the evident goal for all wearers of the blue ribbon.
44:25
Speaker 1: Stepping back into the middle of the room, I carefully
44:28
Speaker 1: pondered my situation, but could get no further than the
44:33
Speaker 1: fact that I was, somehow and in some way in
44:38
Speaker 1: mortal peril. Would it come in the form of a
44:42
Speaker 1: bullet or a deadly thrust from an unseen knife? I
44:47
Speaker 1: did not think so, for to say nothing of the darkness.
44:51
Speaker 1: There was one reassuring fact which recurred constantly to my mind,
44:57
Speaker 1: in connection with the murders I endeavoring to trace to
45:01
Speaker 1: this den of inquity. None of the gentlemen who had
45:07
Speaker 1: been found drowned had shown any marks of violence on
45:11
Speaker 1: their bodies. So it was not attack I was to fear,
45:16
Speaker 1: but some mysterious underhanded treachery which would rob me of
45:22
Speaker 1: consciousness and make the precipitation of my body into the
45:26
Speaker 1: water both safe and easy. Perhaps it was in the
45:32
Speaker 1: bottle of brandy that the peril lay. Perhaps, but why
45:37
Speaker 1: speculate further? I would watch till midnight, and then, if
45:42
Speaker 1: nothing happened, signal my companions to raid the house. Meantime,
45:50
Speaker 1: a peep into the next room might help me towards
45:53
Speaker 1: solving the mystery. Setting the bottle and glass aside, I
45:59
Speaker 1: dragged the table across the floor, placed it under the
46:03
Speaker 1: lighted window mounted, and was about to peer through when
46:09
Speaker 1: the light in that apartment was put out. Also Angry
46:14
Speaker 1: and overwhelmed, I leapt down and stretching out my hands
46:20
Speaker 1: till they touched the wainscotting. I followed the wall around
46:24
Speaker 1: till I came to the knob of the door, which
46:27
Speaker 1: I frantically clutched. But I did not turn it immediately.
46:34
Speaker 1: I was too anxious to catch these villains at work.
46:38
Speaker 1: Would I be conscious of the harm they meditated against me?
46:42
Speaker 1: Or would I imperceptibly yield to some influence of which
46:47
Speaker 1: I was not yet conscious? And dropped to the floor
46:51
Speaker 1: before I could draw my revolver or put to my
46:55
Speaker 1: mouth the whistle upon which I depended for assistance. And
47:02
Speaker 1: it was hard to tell, But I determined to cling
47:05
Speaker 1: to my first intention a little longer, and so stood
47:10
Speaker 1: waiting and counting the minutes, while wondering if the captain
47:15
Speaker 1: of the police boat was not getting impatient, and whether
47:19
Speaker 1: I had not more to fear from the anxiety of
47:23
Speaker 1: my friends than the cupidity of my foes. You see,
47:30
Speaker 1: I had anticipated communicating with the men in this boat
47:34
Speaker 1: by certain signals and tokens which had been arranged between us,
47:41
Speaker 1: But the lack of windows in the room had made
47:44
Speaker 1: all such arrangements futile. So I knew as little of
47:49
Speaker 1: their actions as they of my sufferings, all of which
47:53
Speaker 1: did not tend to add to the cheerfulness of my position. I, however,
48:01
Speaker 1: held out for a half hour, listening, waiting, and watching
48:05
Speaker 1: in a darkness which, like that of Egypt, could be felt.
48:10
Speaker 1: And when the suspense grew intolerable, I struck a match
48:15
Speaker 1: and let its blue flame flicker for a moment over
48:19
Speaker 1: the face of my watch. But the matches soon gave out,
48:25
Speaker 1: and with them my patience, if not my courage, and
48:29
Speaker 1: I determined to enter the suspense by knocking at the door.
48:33
Speaker 1: Beneath this resolution taken, I pulled open the door before
48:40
Speaker 1: me and stepped out. Though I could see nothing, I
48:45
Speaker 1: remembered the narrow landing at the top of the stairs,
48:49
Speaker 1: and stretching out my arms, I felt for the boarding
48:54
Speaker 1: on either hand, guiding myself by it, and began to descend,
49:00
Speaker 1: when something rising as it were, out of the cavernous
49:04
Speaker 1: darkness before me, made me halt and draw back a
49:09
Speaker 1: mingled dread and horror. But the impression, strong as it was,
49:16
Speaker 1: was only momentary, and resolved to be done with the matter.
49:21
Speaker 1: I precipitated myself downward, when suddenly, at about the middle
49:27
Speaker 1: of the staircase, my feet slipped, and I slid forward,
49:33
Speaker 1: plunging and reching out with hands whose frenzied grasp found
49:38
Speaker 1: nothing to cling to down a steep, inclined plane, or what,
49:44
Speaker 1: to my bewildered senses appeared such till I struck a
49:49
Speaker 1: yielding surface and passed with one sickening plunge into the
49:54
Speaker 1: icy waters of the river, which in another moment had
49:59
Speaker 1: closed dark and be numbing above my head. It was
50:05
Speaker 1: all so rapid I did not think of uttering cry.
50:10
Speaker 1: But happily for me, the splash I made told this story,
50:16
Speaker 1: and I was rescued before I could sink a second time.
50:21
Speaker 1: It was a full half hour before I had sufficiently
50:25
Speaker 1: recovered from the shock to relate my story. But so
50:30
Speaker 1: when once I had made it known, you can imagine
50:33
Speaker 1: the gusto with which the police prepared to enter the
50:37
Speaker 1: house and confound the obliging host with a sight of
50:41
Speaker 1: my dripping garments and accusing face. And indeed, in all
50:48
Speaker 1: my professional experience, I have never beheld a more sudden
50:52
Speaker 1: merging of the bully into a coward than was to
50:56
Speaker 1: be seen by this silick villain's face. When I was
51:01
Speaker 1: suddenly pulled from the crowd and placed before him, with
51:06
Speaker 1: the old man's wake gone from my head and the
51:10
Speaker 1: tag of blue ribbon still clinging to my wet coat.
51:17
Speaker 1: His game was up, and he saw it, and Ebenezer
51:21
Speaker 1: Gaysi's career had begun. Like all destructive things, the device
51:30
Speaker 1: by which I had been run into the river was
51:33
Speaker 1: simple enough when understood. In the first place, it had
51:37
Speaker 1: been constructed to serve the purpose of a stairway and choot.
51:43
Speaker 1: The latter was in plain sight when it was used
51:46
Speaker 1: by the sail makers to run the finished sails into
51:50
Speaker 1: the waiting yawls below. At the time of my adventure,
51:55
Speaker 1: and for some time before, the possibilities of the place
51:59
Speaker 1: had been discovered by mine host, who had ingenuously put
52:04
Speaker 1: a partition up the entire stairway, dividing the steps from
52:09
Speaker 1: the smooth runway. At the upper part of the runway,
52:14
Speaker 1: he had built a few steps wherewith to lure the
52:18
Speaker 1: unwary far enough down to ensure a fatal descent. To
52:24
Speaker 1: make sure of his game, he had likewise sealed the
52:29
Speaker 1: upper room all around, including the enclosure of the stairs.
52:35
Speaker 1: The door to the chute and to the door to
52:38
Speaker 1: the stairs were side by side, and, being made of
52:42
Speaker 1: the same boards as the wainscoting, were scarcely visible when closed,
52:49
Speaker 1: while the single knob that was used, being transferable from
52:53
Speaker 1: one to the other, naturally gave the impression that there
52:58
Speaker 1: was but one door. When this adroit villain called my
53:04
Speaker 1: attention to the little window around the corner, he no
53:08
Speaker 1: doubt removed the knob from the stairs door and quickly
53:13
Speaker 1: placed it in the one opening upon the chute. Another
53:17
Speaker 1: door connecting the two similar landings without explains how he
53:22
Speaker 1: got from the chewed staircase into which he passed on,
53:26
Speaker 1: leaving me to the one communicating with the room below.
53:32
Speaker 1: The mystery was solved, and my footing on the force secured.
53:37
Speaker 1: But to this day, and I am an old man now,
53:42
Speaker 1: I have not forgotten the horror of the moment when
53:45
Speaker 1: my feet slipped from under me, and I felt myself
53:51
Speaker 1: sliding downward without hope of rescue, into a pit of
53:56
Speaker 1: heaving waters, where so many of conspicuous virtue had already
54:03
Speaker 1: ended their valuable lives. Myriad thoughts flashed through my brain
54:11
Speaker 1: in that brave interval, and among them the whole method
54:16
Speaker 1: of operating this death trap, together with every detail of
54:21
Speaker 1: evidence that would secure the conviction of the entire gang.
54:29
Speaker 1: End of Part three and of the Staircase At the
54:34
Speaker 1: Heart's Delight by Anna Catherine Grayne, recorded by Caroline on
54:41
Speaker 1: November seventeen, twenty twelve, Inhroningen in the Netherlands. Thank you
54:49
Speaker 1: for listening.