
Billy Deering slips back into his family’s country house, hoping to sort through a stack of letters, when an unexpected guest arrives—Mr. Hood, a stranger with a newspaper‑filled desk and an unsettling calm. The moment Deering sees the man, a chill runs through the quiet halls, and the air thickens with the weight of a secret he’s tried to bury.
It soon becomes clear that Deering’s past is catching up with him: a daring robbery of two hundred thousand dollars in gilt‑edged bonds has left a shadowy pursuer at his doorstep. As the stranger sifts through clippings and speaks in cryptic, almost amused tones, Deering must decide whether to confront the looming threat, flee, or surrender to a fate he never imagined. The opening sets a tense, atmospheric stage where loyalty, guilt, and the promise of retribution intertwine, inviting listeners to linger in the suspenseful world of hidden crimes and uneasy encounters.
Language
en
Duration
~2 hours (126K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2008-06-19
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1866–1947
Best remembered for lively early-20th-century novels like The House of a Thousand Candles, this Indiana writer also stepped into public life as a diplomat and civic figure. His career connected popular fiction, state politics, and American cultural life in a way that still feels distinctive.
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