American library books ยป Fiction ยป Fire-Tongue by Sax Rohmer (i wanna iguana read aloud .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•

Read book online ยซFire-Tongue by Sax Rohmer (i wanna iguana read aloud .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   Sax Rohmer



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Paul Harley, who fully appreciated the purpose of this abrupt change in the conversation, nodded in agreement. โ€œThe call of the East,โ€ he replied, โ€œis a very real thing. Only one who has heard it can understand and appreciate all it means.โ€

The butler, an excellently trained servant, went about his work with quiet efficiency, and once Harley heard him mutter rapid instructions to the surly parlourmaid, who hovered disdainfully in the background. When again host and guest found themselves alone: โ€œI donโ€™t in any way distrust the servants,โ€ explained Sir Charles, โ€œbut one cannot hope to prevent gossip.โ€ He raised his serviette to his lips and almost immediately resumed: โ€œI was about to tell you, Mr. Harley, about my daughterโ€™sโ€”โ€

He paused and cleared his throat, then, hastily pouring out a glass of water, he drank a sip or two and Paul Harley noticed that his hand was shaking nervously. He thought of the photograph in the library, and now, in this reference to a distinguished Oriental gentleman, he suddenly perceived the possible drift of the conversation.

This was the point to which Sir Charles evidently experienced such difficulty in coming. It was something which concerned his daughter; and, mentally visualizing the pure oval face and taunting eyes of the library photograph, Harley found it impossible to believe that the evil which threatened Sir Charles could possibly be associated in any way with Phyllis Abingdon.

Yet, if the revelation which he had to make must be held responsible for his present condition, then truly it was a dreadful one. No longer able to conceal his concern, Harley stood up. โ€œIf the story distresses you so keenly, Sir Charles,โ€ he said, โ€œI begโ€”โ€

Sir Charles waved his hand reassuringly. โ€œA mere nothing. It will pass,โ€ he whispered.

โ€œBut I fear,โ€ continued Harley, โ€œthatโ€”โ€

He ceased abruptly, and ran to his hostโ€™s assistance, for the latter, evidently enough, was in the throes of some sudden illness or seizure. His fresh-coloured face was growing positively livid, and he plucked at the edge of the table with twitching fingers. As Harley reached his side he made a sudden effort to stand up, throwing out his arm to grasp the otherโ€™s shoulder.

โ€œBenson!โ€ cried Harley, loudly. โ€œQuick! Your master is ill!โ€

There came a sound of swift footsteps and the door was thrown open.

โ€œToo late,โ€ whispered Sir Charles in a choking voice. He began to clutch his throat as Benson hurried into the room.

โ€œMy God!โ€ whispered Harley. โ€œHe is dying!โ€

Indeed, the truth was all too apparent. Sir Charles Abingdon was almost past speech. He was glaring across the table as though he saw some ghastly apparition there. And now with appalling suddenness he became as a dead weight in Harleyโ€™s supporting grasp. Raspingly, as if forced in agony from his lips:

โ€œFire-Tongue,โ€ he said... โ€œNicol Brinn...โ€

Benson, white and terror-stricken, bent over him.

โ€œSir Charles!โ€ he kept muttering. โ€œSir Charles! What is the matter, sir?โ€

A stifled shriek sounded from the doorway, and in tottered Mrs. Howett, the old housekeeper, with other servants peering over her shoulder into that warmly lighted dining room where Sir Charles Abingdon lay huddled in his own chairโ€”dead.





CHAPTER III. SHADOWS

โ€œHad you reason to suspect any cardiac trouble, Doctor McMurdoch?โ€ asked Harley.

Doctor McMurdoch, a local practitioner who had been a friend of Sir Charles Abingdon, shook his head slowly. He was a tall, preternaturally thin Scotsman, clean-shaven, with shaggy dark brows and a most gloomy expression in his deep-set eyes. While the presence of his sepulchral figure seemed appropriate enough in that stricken house, Harley could not help thinking that it must have been far from reassuring in a sick room.

โ€œI had never actually detected anything of the kind,โ€ replied the physician, and his deep voice was gloomily in keeping with his personality. โ€œI had observed a certain breathlessness at times, however. No doubt it is one of those cases of unsuspected endocarditis. Acute. I take it,โ€ raising his shaggy brows interrogatively, โ€œthat nothing had occurred to excite Sir Charles?โ€

โ€œOn the contrary,โ€ replied Harley, โ€œhe was highly distressed about some family trouble, the nature of which he was about to confide to me when this sudden illness seized him.โ€

He stared hard at Doctor McMurdoch, wondering how much he might hope to learn from him respecting the affairs of Sir Charles. It seemed almost impertinent at that hour to seek to pry into the dead manโ€™s private life.

To the quiet, book-lined apartment stole now and again little significant sounds which told of the tragedy in the household. Sometimes when a distant door was opened, it would be the sobs of a weeping woman, for the poor old housekeeper had been quite prostrated by the blow. Or ghostly movements would become audible from the room immediately over the libraryโ€”the room to which the dead man had been carried; muffled footsteps, vague stirrings of furniture; each sound laden with its own peculiar portent, awakening the imagination which all too readily filled in the details of the scene above. Then, to spur Harley to action, came the thought that Sir Charles Abingdon had appealed to him for aid. Did his need terminate with his unexpected death or would the shadow under which he had died extend now? Harley found himself staring across the library at the photograph of Phil Abingdon. It was of her that Sir Charles had been speaking when that mysterious seizure had tied his tongue. That strange, fatal illness, mused Harley, all the more strange in the case of a man supposedly in robust healthโ€”it almost seemed like the working of a malignant will. For the revelation, whatever its nature, had almost but not quite been made in Harleyโ€™s office that evening. Something, some embarrassment or mental disability, had stopped Sir Charles from completing his statement. Tonight death had stopped him.

โ€œWas he consulting you professionally, Mr. Harley?โ€ asked the physician.

โ€œHe was,โ€ replied Harley, continuing to stare fascinatedly at the photograph on the mantelpiece. โ€œI am informed,โ€ said he, abruptly, โ€œthat Miss Abingdon is out of town?โ€

Doctor McMurdoch nodded in his slow, gloomy fashion. โ€œShe is staying in Devonshire with poor Abingdonโ€™s sister,โ€ he answered. โ€œI am wondering how we are going to break the news to her.โ€

Perceiving that Doctor McMurdoch had clearly been intimate with the late Sir Charles, Harley determined to make use of this opportunity to endeavour to fathom the mystery of the late surgeonโ€™s fears. โ€œYou will not misunderstand me, Doctor McMurdoch,โ€ he said, โ€œif I venture to ask you one or two rather personal questions respecting Miss Abingdon?โ€

Doctor McMurdoch lowered his shaggy brows and looked gloomily at the speaker. โ€œMr. Harley,โ€ he replied, โ€œI know you by repute for a man of integrity. But before I answer your questions will you answer one of mine?โ€

โ€œCertainly.โ€

โ€œThen

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