Arthur Stringer

“ I retorted, exasperated by the theatricality of his attitude, “the situation seems rather without point in this case, because you do not happen to be the last human being alive in the world.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he quickly amended. “I am the only human being alive in the world!”
“Oh, are you?” I echoed, steeling myself for some confession of incipient paranoia. It was clear, I told myself, that the man had been overworking.
“I mean I’m the only human being left in this world of mine up here,” explained Ryckman.
“How about Burke?” I asked. ”

“ He was still watching the shadowy hall end, but I could see that his stare was not directed toward the bell itself.
“Ryckman,” I suddenly asked him, “is there anything in this besides the mere ringing of that bell up there?”
“Yes,” he replied, after a pause. But still he did not look at me. I became more conscious of a sense of reservation about the man and everything he had said to me.
“What’s the other thing?" I inquired.
His right hand groped behind him, feeling for the chair arm. Having found it, he sank slowly down into its depths.
“It’s a woman,” he said. ”

“ The situation, as we smoked and talked, became a more matter-of-fact one, and when Ryckman carried a lamp to the rear end of the wide reception hall and pointed out the bell which was given to ringing without earthly reason or cause, I could even view that bell with half-amused disdain.
It was an old-fashioned and very ordinary-looking bell, swinging on the end of a curling steel band wire. When once set in motion, because of this wire, it would naturally oscillate for some length of time. ”

“ He moved his head toward the hall end, where I knew the bell swung on its spring.
“But nothing’s going to happen,” I protested, as I sat watching him stare into the shadows at the back of the house. “Nothing can happen!” ”

“ I had been reading on and off for about an hour when Ryckman got up from his chair and crossed to the fire-place. He put on a fresh log, lighted a cigarette, and stood looking down at me.
“I guess it's no use,” he said, with a sigh of weariness.
“Of course it's no use,” I told him. “The combination, you see, is broken. According to the recipe, you have to be the last man left in the world—at least, in your world, as you put it. ”

“ It was only then that I realized that Ryckman had made use of his rifle, and it was only then that I had the intelligence to clear the space between my chair and the far end of the hall.
“Bring the lamp,” I called, “for I rather think you’ve killed a woman!” ”

“ The only feature of that cellar which could be called in any way irregular was a door which opened into a passageway running under the terrace to the east of the house. But this passage, Ryckman explained, had originally connected with a frame building holding two huge cider presses, for when the orchards of Pine Brae were in their prime the earlier owner had thought to make a [ [Category:] ] business of champagnizing and aging native cider for the city market. ”

“ And the boy’s mother never forgave his father. They lived under the same roof, side by side, for two years without speaking. Then the captain disappeared. They said he went back to the Lakes, took up sailing again. ”