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Read book online ยซThe Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle (ereader manga TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   Arthur Conan Doyle



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which delighted some and alarmed others of his fellow boarders.

From the first he made it evident, by his open admiration, that the daughter of the house had won his heart from the instant that he had set eyes upon her beauty and her grace. He was no backward suitor. On the second day he told her that he loved her, and from then onward he repeated the same story with an absolute disregard of what she might say to discourage him.

โ€œSomeone else?โ€ he would cry. โ€œWell, the worse luck for someone else! Let him look out for himself! Am I to lose my life's chance and all my heart's desire for someone else? You can keep on saying no, Ettie: the day will come when you will say yes, and I'm young enough to wait.โ€

He was a dangerous suitor, with his glib Irish tongue, and his pretty, coaxing ways. There was about him also that glamour of experience and of mystery which attracts a woman's interest, and finally her love. He could talk of the sweet valleys of County Monaghan from which he came, of the lovely, distant island, the low hills and green meadows of which seemed the more beautiful when imagination viewed them from this place of grime and snow.

Then he was versed in the life of the cities of the North, of Detroit, and the lumber camps of Michigan, and finally of Chicago, where he had worked in a planing mill. And afterwards came the hint of romance, the feeling that strange things had happened to him in that great city, so strange and so intimate that they might not be spoken of. He spoke wistfully of a sudden leaving, a breaking of old ties, a flight into a strange world, ending in this dreary valley, and Ettie listened, her dark eyes gleaming with pity and with sympathyโ€”those two qualities which may turn so rapidly and so naturally to love.

McMurdo had obtained a temporary job as bookkeeper for he was a well-educated man. This kept him out most of the day, and he had not found occasion yet to report himself to the head of the lodge of the Eminent Order of Freemen. He was reminded of his omission, however, by a visit one evening from Mike Scanlan, the fellow member whom he had met in the train. Scanlan, the small, sharp-faced, nervous, black-eyed man, seemed glad to see him once more. After a glass or two of whisky he broached the object of his visit.

โ€œSay, McMurdo,โ€ said he, โ€œI remembered your address, so I made bold to call. I'm surprised that you've not reported to the Bodymaster. Why haven't you seen Boss McGinty yet?โ€

โ€œWell, I had to find a job. I have been busy.โ€

โ€œYou must find time for him if you have none for anything else. Good Lord, man! you're a fool not to have been down to the Union House and registered your name the first morning after you came here! If you run against himโ€”well, you mustn't, that's all!โ€

McMurdo showed mild surprise. โ€œI've been a member of the lodge for over two years, Scanlan, but I never heard that duties were so pressing as all that.โ€

โ€œMaybe not in Chicago.โ€

โ€œWell, it's the same society here.โ€

โ€œIs it?โ€

Scanlan looked at him long and fixedly. There was something sinister in his eyes.

โ€œIsn't it?โ€

โ€œYou'll tell me that in a month's time. I hear you had a talk with the patrolmen after I left the train.โ€

โ€œHow did you know that?โ€

โ€œOh, it got aboutโ€”things do get about for good and for bad in this district.โ€

โ€œWell, yes. I told the hounds what I thought of them.โ€

โ€œBy the Lord, you'll be a man after McGinty's heart!โ€

โ€œWhat, does he hate the police too?โ€

Scanlan burst out laughing. โ€œYou go and see him, my lad,โ€ said he as he took his leave. โ€œIt's not the police but you that he'll hate if you don't! Now, take a friend's advice and go at once!โ€

It chanced that on the same evening McMurdo had another more pressing interview which urged him in the same direction. It may have been that his attentions to Ettie had been more evident than before, or that they had gradually obtruded themselves into the slow mind of his good German host; but, whatever the cause, the boarding-house keeper beckoned the young man into his private room and started on the subject without any circumlocution.

โ€œIt seems to me, mister,โ€ said he, โ€œthat you are gettin' set on my Ettie. Ain't that so, or am I wrong?โ€

โ€œYes, that is so,โ€ the young man answered.

โ€œVell, I vant to tell you right now that it ain't no manner of use. There's someone slipped in afore you.โ€

โ€œShe told me so.โ€

โ€œVell, you can lay that she told you truth. But did she tell you who it vas?โ€

โ€œNo, I asked her; but she wouldn't tell.โ€

โ€œI dare say not, the leetle baggage! Perhaps she did not vish to frighten you avay.โ€

โ€œFrighten!โ€ McMurdo was on fire in a moment.

โ€œAh, yes, my friend! You need not be ashamed to be frightened of him. It is Teddy Baldwin.โ€

โ€œAnd who the devil is he?โ€

โ€œHe is a boss of Scowrers.โ€

โ€œScowrers! I've heard of them before. It's Scowrers here and Scowrers there, and always in a whisper! What are you all afraid of? Who are the Scowrers?โ€

The boarding-house keeper instinctively sank his voice, as everyone did who talked about that terrible society. โ€œThe Scowrers,โ€ said he, โ€œare the Eminent Order of Freemen!โ€

The young man stared. โ€œWhy, I am a member of that order myself.โ€

โ€œYou! I vould never have had you in my house if I had known itโ€”not if you vere to pay me a hundred dollar a veek.โ€

โ€œWhat's wrong with the order? It's for charity and good fellowship. The rules say so.โ€

โ€œMaybe in some places. Not here!โ€

โ€œWhat is it here?โ€

โ€œIt's a murder society, that's vat it is.โ€

McMurdo laughed incredulously. โ€œHow can you prove that?โ€ he asked.

โ€œProve it! Are there not fifty murders to prove it? Vat about Milman and Van Shorst, and the Nicholson family, and old Mr. Hyam, and little Billy James, and the others? Prove it! Is there a man or a voman in this valley vat does not know it?โ€

โ€œSee here!โ€ said McMurdo earnestly. โ€œI want you to take back what you've

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