THE BITTERMEADS MYSTERY

By E. R. Punshon

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.   THE LONE PASSENGER

CHAPTER II.   THE FIGHT IN THE WOOD

CHAPTER III.   A COINCIDENCE

CHAPTER IV.   A WOMAN WEEPS

CHAPTER V.   A WOMAN AND A MAN

CHAPTER VI.   A DISCOVERY

CHAPTER VII.   QUESTION AND ANSWER

CHAPTER VIII.   CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE

CHAPTER IX.   THE ATTIC OF MYSTERY

CHAPTER X.   THE NEW GARDENER

CHAPTER XI.   THE PROBLEM

CHAPTER XII.   AN AVOWAL

CHAPTER XIII.   INVISIBLE WRITING

CHAPTER XIV.   LOVE-MAKING AT NIGHT

CHAPTER XV.   THE SOUND OF A SHOT

CHAPTER XVI.   IN THE WOOD

CHAPTER XVII.   A DECLARATION

CHAPTER XVIII.   ROBERT DUNN'S ENEMY

CHAPTER XIX.   THE VISIT TO WRESTE ABBEY

CHAPTER XX.   ELLA'S WARNING

CHAPTER XXI.   DOUBTS AND FEARS

CHAPTER XXII.   PLOTS AND PLAYS

CHAPTER XXIII.   COUNTER-PLANS

CHAPTER XXIV.   AN APHORISM

CHAPTER XXV.   THE UNEXPECTED

CHAPTER XXVI.   A RACE AGAINST TIME

CHAPTER XXVII.   FLIGHT AND PURSUIT

CHAPTER XXVIII.     BACK AT BITTERMEADS

CHAPTER XXIX.   THE ATTIC

CHAPTER XXX.   SOME EXPLANATIONS

CHAPTER XXXI.   CONCLUSION

CHAPTER I. THE LONE PASSENGER

That evening the down train from London deposited at the little country station of Ramsdon but a single passenger, a man of middle height, shabbily dressed, with broad shoulders and long arms and a most unusual breadth and depth of chest.

Of his face one could see little, for it was covered by a thick growth of dark curly hair, beard, moustache and whiskers, all overgrown and ill-tended, and as he came with a somewhat slow and ungainly walk along the platform, the lad stationed at the gate to collect tickets grinned amusedly and called to one of the porters near:

"Look at this, Bill; here's the monkey-man escaped and come back along of us."

It was a reference to a travelling circus that had lately visited the place and exhibited a young chimpanzee advertised as "the monkey-man," and Bill guffawed appreciatively.

The stranger was quite close and heard plainly, for indeed the youth at the gate had made no special attempt to speak softly.

The boy was still laughing as he held out his hand for the ticket, and the stranger gave it to him with one hand and at the same time shot out a long arm, caught the boy—a well-grown lad of sixteen—by the middle and, with as little apparent effort as though lifting a baby, swung him into the air to the top of the gate-post, where he left him clinging with arms and legs six feet from the ground.

"Hi, what are you a-doing of?" shouted the porter, running up, as the amazed and frightened youth, clinging to his gate-post, emitted a dismal howl.

"Teaching a cheeky boy manners," retorted the stranger with an angry look and in a very gruff and harsh voice. "Do you want to go on top of the other post to make a pair?"