Robert Barr

“ Doubtless the green shutters were closed, not because of the triple death within, but because the tragedy occurred in the night, and no one was left alive in that ill-fated house to open the blinds when morning came.
As I write these words, the shutters are closed in a house on Highgate Hill, to the north of London, because George Douglas Brown, the author of one famous book, lies dead in a darkened room. Even yet his strident voice is ringing in my ears, while it seems but yesterday that he sat in the chair beside my table. If ever a man was built for a long life it was Brown. ”

“ My brother and Cameron were old friends, and had been school-mates in Canada. The newcomer listened to his talk less interested than Brown or I, with anxiety on his brow, and at last he asked Cameron to take him to his rooms, for he saw how ill the gold-seeker was. Cameron for years has had a flat in London always ready for him on his return to the metropolis. My brother and he bade us good-by and left us.
"That is the most interesting man I ever met," said Brown. "Lord, how little we writers amount to compared with the men who do things." ”

“ WHEN death visits a house in England the shutters are at once closed. If there are no shutters, the blinds are drawn down, and the house looks out sightless to the world. In many novels this fact has formed a climax, and if I remember aright, in William Black's last book, the hero of the story knows that the girl he loved is dead by coming suddenly upon her house and seeing the blinds down. ”