"
"Take it away," he repeated. "Take it away, for God's sake, take
it away, Knox!"
He was quite beyond reason, and therefore:
"Very well," I said, and wrapped the casket in the brown paper in
which it had come. "What do you want me to do with it?"
"Throw it in the river," he answered. "Burn it. Do anything you
like with it, but take it out of my sight!"
III
THE GOLD-CASED NAIL
As I descended to the street the liftman regarded me in a curious
and rather significant way. Finally, just as I was about to step
out into the hall:
"Excuse me, sir," he said, having evidently decided that I was a
fit person to converse with, "but are you a friend of Mr.
Adderley's?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, sir, I hope you will excuse me, but at times I have
thought the gentleman was just a little bit queer, like."
"You mean insane?" I asked sharply.
"Well, sir, I don't know, but he is always asking me if I can see
shadows and things in the lift, and sometimes when he comes in
late of a night he absolutely gives me the cold shivers, he
does."
I lingered, the box under my arm, reluctant to obtain confidences
from a servant, but at the same time keenly interested. Thus
encouraged:
"Then there's that lady friend of his who is always coming here,"
the man continued.
Pages:
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335