If anyone had been watching the bay that August night (which, fortunately for us, there was not), they would have seen up till an hour after midnight as lonely and peaceful a scene as if it had been s...

If anyone had been watching the bay that August night (which, fortunately for us, there was not), they would have seen up till an hour after midnight as lonely and peaceful a scene as if it had been s...

You may smile to think of a sailor being dismayed by a splash of salt water; but not if you are a motorcyclist! Several very diabolical consequences may ensue. In the middle of that empty road, in tha...

“Ruinous” these farm buildings certainly were; but “uninhabited”⁠—obviously not quite! I rose stealthily and crossed to the door, and just as I reached it the door of the other house began to open. I ...

“A fine afternoon,” I remarked, without rising, and I hope without showing any sign of emotion other than pleasure at making an acquaintance. “Aye,” said he, briefly and warily. This discouraging mann...

What I saw when I cautiously peered over the rim of that little hollow was (beginning at the top) a vast expanse of pale-blue sky, with fleecy clouds down near the horizon already tinged with pink ref...

It was in July of that same year that the Rev. Alexander Burnett was abashed to find himself inadvertently conspicuous. He had very heartily permitted himself to be photographed in the centre of a sma...

It was in July of that same year that the Rev. Alexander Burnett was abashed to find himself inadvertently conspicuous. He had very heartily permitted himself to be photographed in the centre of a sma...

Mr. Burnett was somewhat slow in coming to decisions, but once he had taken an idea to do a thing he generally carried it out. In the course of a week or ten days he had presented himself as a candida...

Gradually Mr. Burnett recovered his composure. His guest was so genial and friendly and appreciative of the scones and the currant cake that he began to upbraid himself for churlishness in allowing an...

Upon a secluded road in the quiet suburb of Trinity stood the residence of Mr. Robert Drummond. It was a neat unpretentious little villa graced by a number of trees and a clinging Virginia creeper, an...

A procession came down the long slope at the head of the bay. Each vehicle but one rumbled behind a pair of leisurely horses. That one, a car with a passenger and his luggage, hooted from tail to head...

The house of Breck was a mansion of tolerable antiquity as mansions went in the islands, and several curious stories had already had time to encrust it, like lichen on an aged wall. But none of them w...

As the dusk rapidly thickened and I lay in the heather waiting for the signal, I gave myself one last bit of good advice. Of “him” I was to meet, I had received officially a pretty accurate descriptio...

As the dusk rapidly thickened and I lay in the heather waiting for the signal, I gave myself one last bit of good advice. Of “him” I was to meet, I had received officially a pretty accurate descriptio...

“How much do you know of our scheme?” asked Tiel. I shrugged my shoulders. “Merely that you were going to impersonate a clergyman who was due to come here and preach this next Sunday. How you were goi...

I slept like a log, and only awakened when Tiel came into my room next morning, bringing my breakfast on a tray. He had sent the servant over to the farm for milk, he explained, and while I ate he sat...

That evening when we had the house to ourselves, I joined Tiel in the parlour, and we had a long talk on naval matters, British and German. He knew less of British naval affairs than I did, but quite ...

Monday morning broke wet and windy, but with every sign of clearing up. Tiel looked in for a very few minutes, but he was in his most uncommunicative mood, and merely told me that he would have to be ...

My feelings as I approached the parlour were anything but happy. Some voice seemed to warn me that I was in the presence of something sinister, that some unknown peril stalked at my elbow. This third ...

With a curious sense of excitement I crossed the room. I opened the door⁠—and there stood Eileen. She had taken off her hat, and without it looked even more beautiful, for what hat could rival her mas...

In the morning I came down to breakfast without asking anybody’s leave, and I looked at those two very hard. To see Eileen fresh and calm and smiling gave me the most intense relief, while, as for Tie...

Soon after eleven o’clock two dark figures slipped unostentatiously out of the back door, and a moment later a third followed them. My heart leapt with joy and surprise at the sight of it, and Tiel st...

I woke on Wednesday morning with an outlook so changed that I felt as if some magician must have altered my nature. Theoretically I had taken a momentous and dangerous decision at the call of duty, an...

I woke on Wednesday morning with an outlook so changed that I felt as if some magician must have altered my nature. Theoretically I had taken a momentous and dangerous decision at the call of duty, an...

Friday morning (very early).⁠—The events of yesterday and last night have left me with more to think about than I seem to have wits to think with. Mein Gott, if I could see daylight through everything...

I went up to my room early in the evening. Eileen had been very silent, and about nine o’clock she bade us good night and left us. To sit alone with Tiel, feeling as I did and yet bound by a promise n...

This is written under very different circumstances⁠—and in a different place. My last words were written with my eyes shut; these are written with them open, but I shall simply tell what happened as c...

For the moment the fortitude of the hapless young lieutenant completely broke down when he heard these tidings. It took him a minute to control his voice, and then he said⁠— “Please give me back my re...

For the moment the fortitude of the hapless young lieutenant completely broke down when he heard these tidings. It took him a minute to control his voice, and then he said⁠— “Please give me back my re...

Lieutenant von Belke looked for a moment at the lady who had enslaved him, but for some reason he averted his gaze rather quickly. Then with an elaborate affectation of sarcastic politeness which serv...

Commander Blacklock closed the front door. “Chilly night,” he observed. “It is rather,” said Eileen. The wind droned through a distant keyhole mournfully and continuously. That melancholy piping sound...