Cecil de Thierry

Name: The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny
Author: Cecil de Thierry

The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny

Summary

“The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny”, is a work by Cecil de Thierry. It explores elements such as swagger, purse and Shadow.

Quotes from The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny (Cecil de Thierry)

Cecil de Thierry, The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny

“ As if the trumpet of judgment had sounded in his ears, the man sprang to his feet, and, in a fit of guilty dread, rushed to the gate. But, in his eagerness, he fumbled at the latch without unfastening it. The check, slight as it was, sufficed to disarm his fears. But it was not until he stood in the open roadway, that he paused to reconnoitre. The wind, indeed, swept through the trees, but there was nothing else to alarm him. The silence of the hour, intensified by the silence of death, held the little garden. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Cecil de Thierry, The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny

“ At his feet lay a pistol, as if the murderer had flung it down in a hurry at the sound of an approaching footstep, and on the ground a well-filled purse, fastened by an elastic band. Beyond these details the swagger's gaze, now feverishly bright, saw nothing.
In a dim sort of way he understood that he and the dead were alone. But it stirred him less than the sight of the purse; on that his ideas were clear, though confined to the necessities of the moment. The young farmer, whose thrift had filled it, the shot of a murderer had sent beyond the need of it. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Cecil de Thierry, The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny

“ But the garden was as full of dread for him as the house. The rain had ceased, but the sobbing of the earth and the rush of the wind were, in his state of mind, fearsome things endowed with life. The moon, too, added to his terrors by casting strange and shifting shadows on the path, and investing the bushes and trees with terrible shapes. An equinoctial gale was blowing, and the place was alive with supernatural beings, yet the swagger was oppressed by its loneliness and silence. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Cecil de Thierry, The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny

“ Perhaps it was the characteristic weakness of the man, or it may have been he was loth to cut short hi dreams in the open to face the realities of the settlement. Rebuffs were as familiar to him as the sunshine. The prosperous farmer in the country and the sleek tradesman in the town, alike, showed him contempt. They had got on in the world, and so, if they were only honest and industrious, could any one else, he as much as read in their looks and words. He had not got on in the world, therefore it was impossible that he should be either.
A few paces from where he sat the road forked. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Cecil de Thierry, The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny

“ From the light brown surface or the leather they stood out with that cruel insistence the imagination has grown to associate with human blood. As his eyes fell on them, the swagger made a movement expressive of the most intense loathing, and the purse dropped to the ground with a thud and a clink. The body of the murdered man had only suggested to him a way of satisfying his hunger ”

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Source: Wikisource

Cecil de Thierry, The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny

“ On the disappearance of the purse he could not be induced to say a word. The story he had told the evening of his arrest was never shaken in any one particular. Only that it had been found impossible to fasten the murder on any one else, the authorities would have been only too glad to let him go.
But at length a clue to the ownership of the pistol, thrown into the bushes under the window of the house, was discovered and, as it could by no chance have come into the swagger's hands, there was no longer any reasonable excuse for detaining him a prisoner. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Cecil de Thierry, The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny

“ From habit he walked on without looking back, or he would have seen that he was followed by a man—a swagger like himself, but of evil countenance and rough appearance. As long as they were in the township, it was not noticeable, but, the further they left it behind, the more striking it became. The Shadow, however, instead of keeping to the road, hugged the hedges of the farms and the ti-tree of the open. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Cecil de Thierry, The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny

“ As a rule, criminals might be classed under either of two headings the coarse and callous, or the refined and crushed. But this man belonged to neither. He would have embodied the popular idea of a mild country curate, but of a murderer, never. ”

Cecil de Thierry

Summary

Quotes from The Yellow Book, Volume 13 — On the Toss of a Penny (Cecil de Thierry)

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