The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Keeper of the Door, by Ethel M. Dell

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Title: The Keeper of the Door

Author: Ethel M. Dell

Release Date: February 10, 2005 [EBook #15013]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KEEPER OF THE DOOR ***

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THE KEEPER OF THE DOOR

By ETHEL M. DELL

AUTHOR OF "The Way of an Eagle," "The Knave of Diamonds," "The Rocks of
Valpre," Etc.

A.L. BURT COMPANY

Publishers New York

Published by Arrangements with G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 1915

BY

ETHEL M. DELL

Fourth Impression

BY ETHEL M. DELL

   The Way of an Eagle
   The Knave of Diamonds
   The Rocks of Valpré
   The Swindler
   The Keeper of the Door
   Bars of Iron
   Rosa Mundi
   The Obstacle Race
   Tetherstones
   The Passerby and Other Stories
   The Hundredth Chance
   The Safety Curtain
   Greatheart
   The Lamp in the Desert
   The Tidal Wave
   The Top of the World
   The Odds and Other Stories
   Charles Rex
   The Unknown Quantity
   A Man Under Authority

This edition is issued under arrangement with the publishers G.P.
PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON

The Knickerbocker Press, New York Made in the United States of America

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO THE DEAR MEMORY OF ONE WHO WAITS BEYOND THE DOOR FOR THOSE HE LOVES

"And the keepers before the door kept the prison."

Acts xii. 6.

   "A deep below the deep
       And a height beyond the height!
    Our hearing is not hearing,
       And our seeing is not sight."

The Voice and the Peak.

ALFRED TENNYSON.

CONTENTS

PART ONE

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE LESSON 1

II. THE ALLY 16

III. THE OBSTACLE 27

IV. THE SETTING OF THE WATCH 37

V. THE CHAPERON 47

VI. THE PAIN-KILLER 62

VII. THE PUZZLE 74

VIII. THE ELASTIC BOND 86

IX. THE PROJECT 97

X. THE DOOR 108

XI. THE IMPOSSIBLE 120

XII. THE PAL 129

XIII. HER FATE 149

XIV. THE DARK HOUR 155

XV. THE AWAKENING 167

XVI. SECRETS 177

XVII. THE VERDICT 189

XVIII. SOMETHING LOST 198

XIX. THE REVELATION 205

XX. THE SEARCH 217

XXI. ON THE BRINK 228

XXII. OVER THE EDGE 235

XXIII. AS GOOD AS DEAD 243

XXIV. THE OPENING OF THE DOOR 252

XXV. THE PRICE 264

PART TWO

I. COURTSHIP 281

II. THE SELF-INVITED GUEST 287

III. THE NEW LIFE 297

IV. THE PHANTOM 305

V. THE EVERLASTING CHAIN 317

VI. CHRISTMAS MORNING 327

VII. THE WILDERNESS OF NASTY POSSIBILITIES 340

VIII. THE SOUL OF A HERO 350

IX. THE MAN WITH THE GUN 357

X. A TALK IN THE OPEN 367

XI. THE FAITHFUL WOUND OF A FRIEND 376

XII. A LETTER FROM AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE 390

XIII. A WOMAN'S PREJUDICE 403

XIV. SMOKE FROM THE FIRE 414

XV. THE SPREADING OF THE FLAME 426

XVI. THE GAP 437

XVII. THE EASIEST COURSE 452

XVIII. ONE MAN'S LOSS 462

XIX. A FIGHT WITHOUT A FINISH 472

XX. THE POWER OF THE ENEMY 487

XXI. THE GATHERING STORM 503

XXII. THE REPRIEVE 510

XXIII. THE GIFT OF THE RAJAH 518

XXIV. THE BIG, BIG GAME OF LIFE 528

XXV. MEMORIES THAT HURT 537

XXVI. A FOOL'S ERRAND 548

XXVII. LOVE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE 556

XXVIII. A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN 570

XXIX. THE MAN'S POINT OF VIEW 578

XXX. THE LINE OF RETREAT 588

PART I

CHAPTER I

THE LESSON

"Then he's such a prig!" said Olga.

"You should never use a word you can't define," observed Nick, from the depths of the hammock in which his meagre person reposed at length.

She made a face at him, and gave the hammock a vicious twitch which caused him to rock with some violence for several seconds. As he was wont pathetically to remark, everyone bullied him because he was small and possessed only one arm, having shed the other by inadvertence somewhere on the borders of the Indian Empire.

Certainly Olga—his