The House of the Whispering Pines

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Green Anna Katharine. The House of the Whispering Pines

BOOK ONE. SMOKE

I. THE HESITATING STEP

II. IT WAS SHE—SHE INDEED!

III "OPEN!"

IV. THE ODD CANDLESTICK

V. A SCRAP OF PAPER

VI. COMMENTS AND REFLECTIONS

VII. CLIFTON ACCEPTS MY CASE

VIII. A CHANCE! I TAKE IT

BOOK TWO. SWEETWATER TO THE FRONT

IX "WE KNOW OF NO SUCH LETTER"

X "I CAN HELP YOU"

XI. IN THE COACH HOUSE

XII "LILA—LILA!"

XIII "WHAT WE WANT IS HERE"

XIV. THE MOTIONLESS FIGURE

XV. HELEN SURPRISES SWEETWATER

XVI. 62 CUTHBERT ROAD

XVII "MUST I TELL THESE THINGS?"

XVIII. ON IT WAS WRITTEN—

XIX "IT 'S NOT WHAT YOU WILL FIND"

BOOK THREE. HIDDEN SURPRISES

XX "HE OR YOU! THERE IS NO THIRD"

XXI. CARMEL AWAKES

XXII "BREAK IN THE GLASS!"

XXIII. AT TEN INSTEAD OF TWELVE

XXIV. ALL THIS STOOD

XXV "I AM INNOCENT"

XXVI. THE SYLLABLE OF DOOM

XXVII. EXPECTANCY

XXVIII "WHERE IS MY BROTHER?"

BOOK FOUR. WHAT THE PINES WHISPERED

XXIX "I REMEMBERED THE ROOM"

XXX "CHOOSE"

XXXI "WERE HER HANDS CROSSED THEN?"

XXXII. AND I HAD SAID NOTHING!

XXXIII. THE ARROW OF DEATH

XXXIV "STEADY!"

XXXV "AS IF IT WERE A MECCA"

XXXVI. THE SURCHARGED MOMENT

Отрывок из книги

The moon rode high; but ominous clouds were rushing towards it—clouds heavy with snow. I watched these clouds as I drove recklessly, desperately, over the winter roads. I had just missed the desire of my life, the one precious treasure which I coveted with my whole undisciplined heart, and not being what you call a man of self-restraint, I was chafed by my defeat far beyond the bounds I have usually set for myself.

The moon—with the wild skurry of clouds hastening to blot it out of sight—seemed to mirror the chaos threatening my better impulses; and, idly keeping it in view, I rode on, hardly conscious of my course till the rapid recurrence of several well-known landmarks warned me that I had taken the longest route home, and that in another moment I should be skirting the grounds of The Whispering Pines, our country clubhouse. I had taken? Let me rather say, my horse; for he and I had traversed this road many times together, and he had no means of knowing that the season was over and the club-house closed. I did not think of it myself at the moment, and was recklessly questioning whether I should not drive in and end my disappointment in a wild carouse, when, the great stack of chimneys coming suddenly into view against the broad disk of the still unclouded moon, I perceived a thin trail of smoke soaring up from their midst and realised, with a shock, that there should be no such sign of life in a house I myself had closed, locked, and barred that very day.

.....

The window which stood open was a small one,-a mere slit in the wall; but it let in a stream of zero air and I saw Hexford shiver as he stepped towards it and looked out. But I felt hot rather than cold, and when I instinctively put my hand to my forehead, it came away wet.

"To write this note was easy, but to deliver it involved difficulties. Miss Cumberland's eyes seemed to be more upon me than usual. Mine were obliged to respond and Carmel seeing this, kept hers on her plate or on the one other person seated at the table, her brother Arthur. But the opportunity came as we all rose and passed together into the drawing-room. Carmel fell into place at my side and I slipped the note into her hand. She had not expected it and I fear that the action was observed, for when I took my leave of Miss Cumberland shortly after, I was struck by her expression. I had never seen such a look on her face before, nor can I conceive of one presenting a more extraordinary contrast to the few and commonplace words with which she bade me good evening. I could not forget that look. I continued to see those pinched features and burning eyes all the way home where I went to get my grip-sack, and I saw them all the way to the station, though my thoughts were with her sister and the joys I had planned for myself. Man's egotism, Dr. Perry. I neither knew Adelaide nor did I know the girl whose love I had so over-estimated. She failed me, Dr. Perry. I was met at the station not by herself, but by a letter—a few hurried lines given me by an unknown man—in which she stated that I had asked too much of her, that she could not so wrong her sister who had brought her up and done everything for her since her mother died. I have not that letter now, or I would show it to you. In my raging disappointment I tore it up on the place where I received it, and threw the pieces away. I had staked my whole future on one desperate throw and I had lost. If I had had a pistol—" I stopped, warned by an uneasy movement on the part of the man I addressed, that I had better not dilate too much upon my feelings. Indeed, I had forgotten to whom I was talking. I realised nothing, thought of nothing but the misery I was describing. His action recalled me to the infinitely deeper misery of my present situation, and conscious of the conclusions which might be drawn from such impulsive utterances, I pulled myself together and proceeded to finish my story with greater directness.

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