The Golden Slipper, and Other Problems for Violet Strange |
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Alicia Amidon answer asked blind blind husband Broecklyn brother bullet child clock cried crime dark doctor door dread Dudley Brooks eyes face fact father fear feeling felt floor followed gave gaze George Hammond girl glance GOLDEN SLIPPER grotto hall hand Hasbrouck hear heard heart Hetty hope hour husband knew lady lifted light lips listened look marriage Mauretania mind minutes Miss Driscoll Miss Strange murder murmured mystery nature never night once paper passed paused Pirot pistol police portmanteau possible Postlethwaite Poughkeepsie present Quintard remarked remember Roger secret seemed seen Shaffer house shot silence smile Spielhagen spoke staring step stood story Strange's sure tell terror thought told tone took turned Upjohn uttered Van Broecklyn Violet Strange voice wainscot wall whispered wife window woman words young Zabriskie
Popular passages
Page 299 - ... sound, he was too absorbed at this moment to notice my presence though I had taken no pains to approach quietly. I therefore stood for a full minute watching him, till an irresistible sense of the shame of thus spying upon a blind man in his moments of secret anguish seized upon me and I turned away. But not before I saw his features relax in a storm of passionate feeling, as he rained kisses after kisses on the senseless kid he had so long held in his motionless grasp. Yet when an hour later...
Page 309 - Pshaw!' answered his companion, who, by the by, was known to pride himself upon his own memory for dates, 'I can state where I went and what I did on every day in the year. That may not embrace what you call "notable events," but the memory required is all the more remarkable, is it not?' "'Pooh!' was his friend's provoking reply, 'you are bluffing, Ben; I will never believe that.
Page 275 - What love was in the cry! and what despair! It seemed to move him and turn his thoughts for a moment into a different channel. " Poor child! " he murmured, stretching out his hands by an irresistible impulse towards her. But the change was but momentary, and he was soon again the stern and determined self-accuser. " Are you going to take me before a magistrate? " he asked. " If so, I have a few duties to perform which you are welcome to witness.
Page 274 - I do not wish to go into any particulars," said he. " God forsook me, and I committed a horrible crime. When I am punished, perhaps peace will return to me and happiness to her. I would not wish her to suffer too long or too bitterly for my sin.
Page 256 - I am told that the big key was not in the lock, and that the bolt at the bottom of the door was not drawn." "The bolt at the bottom of the door is never drawn. Mr. Hasbrouck was so good a man he never mistrusted any one. That is why the big lock was not fastened. The key, not working well, he took it some days ago to the locksmith, and when the latter failed to return it, he laughed, and said he thought no one would ever think of meddling with his front door.
Page 325 - I could not prevent myself from bending towards him and saying these words : " Dr. Zabriskie, the mystery of your crime is no longer a mystery to me. Listen and see if I do not understand your temptation, and how you, a conscientious and Godfearing man, came to slay your innocent neighbor. "A friend of yours, or so he called himself, had for a long time filled your ears with tales tending to make you suspicious of your wife and jealous of a certain man whom I will not name. You knew that your friend...
Page 306 - ... shall have to appeal to Joe Smithers. This is something which I always hate to do, but as long as he will take money, and as long as he is fertile in resources for obtaining the truth from people I am myself unable to reach, so long must I make use of his cupidity and his genius. He is an honorable fellow in one way, and never retails as gossip what he acquires for our use. How will he proceed in this case, and by what tactics will he gain the very delicate information which we need?
Page 321 - I am blind this hour and cannot see her" fell unconsciously from his lips; then, before the echo of these words had left my ears, he raised his voice and observed calmly enough, considering that he was about to prove himself a criminal in order to save himself from being thought a madman, " Let no one move. I must have my ears free for catching the first stroke of the clock." And he raised the pistol before him. There was a moment of torturing suspense and deep, unbroken silence. My eyes were on...
Page 301 - ... have spent this day in accumulating details in regard to Dr. and Mrs. Zabriskie's life previous to the death of Mr. Hasbrouck. I learned from sources it would be unwise to quote just here that Mrs. Zabriskie had not lacked enemies ready to charge her with coquetry; that while she had never sacrificed her dignity in public, more than one person had been heard to declare that Dr. Zabriskie was fortunate in being blind, since the sight of his wife's beauty would have but poorly compensated him for...
Page 254 - ... been in bed; that he had risen upon hearing a noise; and that he had been shot before reaching the door, were self-evident facts. But there was nothing to guide me further. The very simplicity of the circumstances caused a dearth of clues, which made the difficulty of procedure as great as any I ever encountered. My search through the hall and down the stairs elicited nothing; and an investigation of the bolts and bars by which the house was secured, assured me that the assassin had either entered...