Description
The Mystery of the Hidden Room
CHAPTER I
THE NOTE
I had intended spending the evening at the Club; but after my solitary meal, I found that I was too tired to care to leave my own inviting fireside. Drawing up a chair before the open grate in my library, for the October night was chill and the landlord had not sufficiently relented to order the steam-heat, I settled myself comfortably with my book and pipe. The story I had chosen was a murder mystery, extremely clever and well-written, and so engrossed did I become that I was entirely oblivious to the passage of time. The entrance of my man, Jenkins, brought me back to my surroundings with a start to find that the clock on the mantel was chiming eleven. A little impatient at the interruption for I had not concluded the story, I grew sarcastic. "What is it, Jenkins? Have you come to remind me that it is long past my bed-time?" I inquired. Jenkins’ face grew longer if such a thing were possible in a countenance already attenuated by nature into the semblance of perpetual gloom, and shook his head with a grieved air as though he considered my remark an aspersion upon his knowledge of his duties as a valet. "A man who claims to be Mrs. Darwin’s chauffeur, sir," he replied in a tone that indicated that he at least would not be responsible for the veracity of the statement, "has just brought this note. He says that he will await the answer below in his machine, sir." He extended an unaddressed white envelope with a funereal air. The note was from Ruth. The message was brief and to the point. "Will you return at once with my chauffeur? I need you." "My hat and coat, Jenkins," I cried, flinging aside my jacket. "You need not wait up for me. I have my key," I added. I could have descended the stairs a half dozen times before the elevator finally arrived, or so it seemed to my impatience. The moment we reached the lo
Product ID: 9781776762095
Sku: 9781776762095
