bookssland.com Ā» Literary Collections Ā» The Secret of Chimneys - Agatha Christie (best pdf ebook reader TXT) šŸ“—

Book online Ā«The Secret of Chimneys - Agatha Christie (best pdf ebook reader TXT) šŸ“—Ā». Author Agatha Christie



1 ... 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
Go to page:
just await my kingly pleasure. Virginia, do you remember my telling you once that Iā€™d have a damned good try to make you care for me.ā€

ā€œI remember,ā€ said Virginia softly. ā€œBut Superintendent Battle was looking out of the window.ā€

ā€œWell, he isnā€™t now,ā€ said Anthony.

He caught her suddenly to him, kissing her eyelids, her lips, the green gold of her hair....

ā€œI do love you so, Virginia,ā€ he whispered. ā€œI do love you so. Do you love me?ā€

He looked down at herā€”sure of the answer.

Her head rested against his shoulder, and very low, in a sweet shaken voice, she answered:

ā€œNot a bit!ā€

ā€œYou little devil,ā€ cried Anthony, kissing her again. ā€œNow I know for certain that I shall love you until I die....ā€

31
Sundry Details

Sceneā€”Chimneys, 11 A.M. Thursday morning.

Johnson, the police constable, with his coat off, digging.

Something in the nature of a funeral feeling seems to be in the air. The friends and relations stand round the grave that Johnson is digging.

George Lomax has the air of the principal beneficiary under the will of the deceased. Superintendent Battle, with his immovable face, seems pleased that the funeral arrangements have gone so nicely. As the undertaker, it reflects credit upon him. Lord Caterham has that solemn and shocked look which Englishmen assume when a religious ceremony is in progress.

Mr. Fish does not fit into the picture so well. He is not sufficiently grave.

Johnson bends to his task. Suddenly he straightens up. A little stir of excitement passes round.

ā€œThatā€™ll do, sonny,ā€ says Mr. Fish. ā€œWe shall do nicely now.ā€

One perceives at once that he is really the family physician.

Johnson retires. Mr. Fish, with due solemnity, stoops over the excavation. The surgeon is about to operate.

He brings out a small canvas package. With much ceremony he hands it to Superintendent Battle. The latter, in his turn, hands it to George Lomax. The etiquette of the situation has now been fully complied with.

George Lomax unwraps the package, slits up the oil-silk inside it, burrows into further wrapping. For a moment he holds something on the palm of his handā€”then quickly shrouds it once more in cotton wool.

He clears his throat.

ā€œAt this auspicious minute,ā€ he begins, with the clear delivery of the practised speaker.

Lord Caterham beats a precipitate retreat. On the terrace he finds his daughter.

ā€œBundle, is that car of yours in order?ā€

ā€œYes. Why?ā€

ā€œThen take me up to town in it immediately. Iā€™m going abroad at onceā€”to-day.ā€

ā€œBut, fatherā€”ā€”ā€

ā€œDonā€™t argue with me, Bundle. George Lomax told me when he arrived this morning that he was anxious to have a few words with me privately on a matter of the utmost delicacy. He added that the King of Timbuctoo was arriving in London shortly. I wonā€™t go through it again, Bundle, do you hear? Not for fifty George Lomaxes! If Chimneys is so valuable to the nation, let the nation buy it. Otherwise I shall sell it to a syndicate and they can turn it into an hotel.ā€

ā€œWhere is Codders now?ā€

Bundle is rising to the situation.

ā€œAt the present minute,ā€ replied Lord Caterham, looking at his watch, ā€œhe is good for at least fifteen minutes about the Empire.ā€

Another picture.

Mr. Bill Eversleigh, not invited to be present at the graveside ceremony, at the telephone.

ā€œNo, really, I mean it.... I say, donā€™t be huffy.... Well, you will have supper to-night anyway?... No, I havenā€™t. Iā€™ve been kept to it with my nose at the grindstone. Youā€™ve no idea what Codders is like.... I say, Dolly, you know jolly well what I think about you.... You know Iā€™ve never cared for anyone but you.... Yes, Iā€™ll come to the show first. How does the old wheeze go? ā€˜And the little girl tries, Hooks and Eyesā€™....ā€

Unearthly sounds. Mr. Eversleigh trying to hum the refrain in question.

And now Georgeā€™s peroration draws to a close.

... ā€œthe lasting peace and prosperity of the British Empire!ā€

ā€œI guess,ā€ said Mr. Hiram Fish sotto voce to himself and the world at large, ā€œthat this has been a great little old week.ā€

Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

The cover image was prepared by the transcriber and has been placed in the public domain.

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS ***
Updated editions will replace the previous oneā€”the old editions will be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERGā„¢ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenbergā„¢ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase ā€œProject Gutenbergā€), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenbergā„¢ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. ā€œProject Gutenbergā€ is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (ā€œthe Foundationā€ or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenbergā„¢ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenbergā„¢ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenbergā„¢ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenbergā„¢ License when you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenbergā„¢ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenbergā„¢ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenbergā„¢ work (any work on which the phrase ā€œProject Gutenbergā€ appears, or with which the phrase ā€œProject Gutenbergā€ is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase ā€œProject Gutenbergā€ associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenbergā„¢ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenbergā„¢ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenbergā„¢ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenbergā„¢ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenbergā„¢.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenbergā„¢ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenbergā„¢ work in a format other than ā€œPlain Vanilla ASCIIā€ or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenbergā„¢ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original ā€œPlain Vanilla ASCIIā€ or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenbergā„¢ License as specified
1 ... 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
Go to page:

Free e-book Ā«The Secret of Chimneys - Agatha Christie (best pdf ebook reader TXT) šŸ“—Ā» - read online now

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet. You can be the first!
Add a comment