"The fellow had either very long legs or
was a most active man," said he. "With an area beneath, it was
no mean feat to reach that window-ledge and open that window.
Getting back was comparatively simple. Are you coming with us
to see the remains of your bust, Mr. Harker?"
The disconsolate journalist had seated himself at a writing-table.
"I must try and make something of it," said he, "though I have
no doubt that the first editions of the evening papers are out
already with full details. It's like my luck! You remember
when the stand fell at Doncaster? Well, I was the only
journalist in the stand, and my journal the only one that had
no account of it, for I was too shaken to write it. And now
I'll be too late with a murder done on my own doorstep."
As we left the room we heard his pen travelling shrilly over
the foolscap.
The spot where the fragments of the bust had been found was only
a few hundred yards away. For the first time our eyes rested
upon this presentment of the great Emperor, which seemed to
raise such frantic and destructive hatred in the mind of the
unknown. It lay scattered in splintered shards upon the
grass.
Pages:
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321