- Libros en formato MOBI -
A
Thief in The Night
If I must tell
more tales of Raffles, I can but back to our
earliest days together, and fill in the blanks
left by discretion in existing annals. In so
doing I may indeed fill some small part of an
infinitely greater blank, across which you may
conceive me to have stretched my canvas for the
first frank portrait of my friend. The whole
truth cannot harm him now. I shall paint in
every wart. Raffles was a villain, when all is
written; it is no service to his memory to glaze
the fact; yet I have done so myself before
to-day. I have omitted whole heinous episodes. I
have dwelt unduly on the redeeming side. And
this I may do again, blinded even as I write by
the gallant glamour that made my villain more to
me than any hero. But at least there shall be no
more reservations, and as an earnest I shall
make no further secret of the greatest wrong
that even Raffles ever did me....
Mr.
Justice Raffles
Raffles had vanished from the face of the
town, and even I had no conception of his
whereabouts until he cabled to me to meet the
7.31 at Charing Cross next night. That was on
the Tuesday before the 'Varsity match, or a full
fortnight after his mysterious disappearance.
The telegram was from Carlsbad, of all places
for Raffles of all men! Of course there was only
one thing that could possibly have taken so rare
a specimen of physical fitness to any such
pernicious spot. But to my horror he emerged
from the train, on the Wednesday evening, a
cadaverous caricature of the splendid person I
had gone to meet.
"Not a word, my dear Bunny, till I have bitten
British beef!" said he, in tones as hollow as
his cheeks. "No, I'm not going to stop to clear
my baggage now. You can do that for me
to-morrow, Bunny, like a dear good pal."...
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