The Mystery of Cloomber

, harsh voice, stepping in between us and

rough the gap, and then he turned upon me with an expression so murderous t

e country might congregate round it? Oh, you have been very near your death, my fine fellow! You will never be nearer until your time comes. Look at this!" He pulled a squat, thick pistol out of his boso

ve, however, that you are still covering me with your pistol, and that, as your hand is rather tremulous, it is more than possible t

ntleman live quietly without your coming to peep and pry? Have you no business of your own to look after, eh? And my daughter? h

unities of seeing your daughter and of appreciating her many noble qualities. We are eng

general gave a long whistle of astonishment, and then l

into the jungle and begin sniffing at what they imagined to be worms there. But the worm turned out to be a venomous snak

aspersion upon your own daughter?"

y one, however, which I should recommend a young fellow to marry into. And pr

ircumstances. "It is possible that we were mistaken. Before coming to any final decision, I implore you to remember that t

n't know what you are asking for. There is a gulf between you and a

om his manner, and given place to an a

t clodhoppers because we live in this out-of-the-way place. I am of noble descent on one side, and my moth

the disparity lies. There are reasons why my daughter Gabriel should

ure you that the one interest which overrides all others is that I should have the woman I love for my wife. If this is your only objection to our

dier, smiling at my warmth. "It's easy to defy

no earthly peril which will drive me from Gabr

oughtfully, as if speaking his mind aloud: "He has plenty of pluck a

ith a vacant stare in his eyes a

fence. It shan't occur again. I am rather over-particular, no doubt, in my desire for complete isolation, but I have good reasons for insisting on the point. Rightly or wrongly

all my

oomber,' you would know that it was an appeal for help, and would

"But might I ask you what the nature

rstand it if I told you. I must bid you good day now, for I have stayed with

ope that you will not be angry with your daughter for anything which I

. As to this marriage question, I should advise you as a friend to let it drop altogether, but if that is impossible I must i

d was quickly out of sight

loaded pistol at my breast and had ended, by partially acknowledging the possibility of m

d done hitherto. Against this there was the advantage of having obtained an implied consent to the renewal of my suit at some f

rn, and to hang day and night over the towers of Cloomber! Rack my brain as I would, I

y of each other, that if I were told what the peril was, I would hardly realise its significance.

t, and I swore that no power of man or devil should ever weaken my l