Arthur Edwards Chapman

“ My friend, Ronald Titherington, laughed and weighed the little golden spider in his palm.
"You don't mean to suggest, do you," he replied, "that this little mass of gold and carbon is capable of exercising control over the human will? The thing is valuable, I'll grant you—those diamond eyes must be worth at least a couple of hundred apiece—but as for anything else—absurd!" ”

“ The wind howled and whistled through the naked branches of the trees, which seemed to complain one to the other with great creakings and groanings; the rain drove before it in a beating, soaking deluge, pit-pit-patting on the mud of the road around me; the thunder rolled and growled in the distance, coming gradually nearer and louder till it burst overhead with a reverberating, ear-splitting crash to the accompaniment of blinding flashes of lightning that revealed the whole dreary, sodden landscape. ”

“ Didn't you say a dark foreign man bid against you very heavily for the jewel, and when you outbid him he implored you to let him have it? Well, what is more natural than that the guardians of the jewel, having failed to obtain it by force, should seek to take advantage of this opportunity to secure it? It seems to me, Alan, that you have need to watch against human rather than super natural powers."
"Then you think that the foreigner might try to steal the spider from me?"
"Yes," Titherington replied, getting up and stretching himself. ”

“ The fact of the inn being open at that late hour now savored of a trap. Then there was the deafness of the tall man. Anything might happen and he would not hear it.
And again, why was the hunchback so desirous of carrying off my weapons? Or why tell a deliberate lie if he were an honest man? Here was a mystery which I determined to get to the bottom of, and heaven help the villain if my fears proved correct! Quickly I decided on a course of action.
"Well, host," said I, "'tis a rare vintage of yours, an' I should sleep well upon it for I'm mightily tired." ”

“ Then the spell seemed to fall from me, and as the great fangs of the thing groped for my throat I gave a loud cry and hurled myself with the blind madness of despair at the foul, hairy shape, falling to the carpeted floor locked in that relentless embrace. ”

“ Putting the candle on a small dressing-stand, he looked through me once with his cat's eyes, and I was alone.
Alone! Yes. But sleep? No. Nothing was farther from me, for I was wrestling with this great problem that faced me. ”

“ You see, the mare had received a bullet at Badajos, and the wound, breaking out afresh, had been the cause of us landing in this pretty pickle.
However, ’twas no use crying over spilt milk. We must perforce make the best of bad luck and what progress we could against the elements. We might, perchance, discover some lonely farm-house, or even (cheering thought) some wayside inn that would at least afford shelter for the pair of us. ”

“ Ho, ho! . . . 'Tis a fat purse, also. . . how it jingles. . . He sleeps sound. . . where shall his bed be? . . . Beneath the stair? . . . The knife. . . I must have it. . ."
Slowly the sleepwalker moved, turning his head neither to right nor left. Outside the water dripped with that ringing, metallic sound which I have mentioned. The sleeper must have heard it, for he stopped and appeared to listen.
"How sticky his blood is. . . hark! . . . drip, drip, drip. . . Blood. . . . everywhere is blood. . . Where is the knife? ”

“ Replace them at once, ere I knock that hump from your back!"
"Nay, sir," said he, dropping the things as though they burnt him, "I meant no harm, I was but going to convey them to your chamber as is my custom with what few guests come this way."
"Well, well, 'tis all right; there's no bones broken," I assured him, sinking down again. "But long companionship with danger makes an old campaigner wary of parting with his best friends." And I arranged the weapons carefully at my elbow. ”

“ None-the-less 'tis for you to ride warily, for a blow in the dark is easily struck. Besides, you have my lady's diamonds and those, added to what you yourself carry, form a tempting haul to any knight of the road. ”