Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team.
1920
The very beginning of this affair, which involved me, before I was awareof it, in as much villainy and wickedness as ever man heard of, was, ofcourse, that spring evening, now ten years ago, whereon I looked out ofmy mother's front parlour window in the main street of Berwick-upon-Tweedand saw, standing right before the house, a man who had a black patchover his left eye, an old plaid thrown loosely round his shoulders, andin his right hand a stout stick and an old-fashioned carpet-bag. Hecaught sight of me as I caught sight of him, and he stirred, and made atonce for our door. If I had possessed the power of seeing more than theobvious, I should have seen robbery, and murder, and the very devilhimself coming in close attendance upon him as he crossed the pavement.But as it was, I saw nothing but a stranger, and I threw open the windowand asked the man what he might be wanting.
"Lodgings!" he answered, jerking a thickly made thumb at a paper which mymother had that day set in the transom above the door. "Lodgings! You'velodgings to let for a single gentleman. I'm a single gentleman, and Iwant lodgings. For a month—maybe more. Money no object. Thoroughrespectability—on my part. Few needs and modest requirements. Not likelyto give trouble. Open the door!"
I went into the passage and opened the door to him. He strode in withoutas much as a word, and, not waiting for my invitatio