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Speaker 1: The Black Patch by Julian Killman. The dead weight about

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my body made me gasp as I leapt into the taxicab.

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So far as my uncle and I were aware, there

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was only one other person who knew of my errand

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he lived in a small town in the northern part

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of Ontario and was the sole surviving member of that

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branch of the Warren family, which had left England three

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generations before. The gold coin I carried was a legacy

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to him, and I do not think he would have

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divulged the manner of its delivery. Yet twice during the

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short time that had elapsed since my arrival in New York,

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I had been attacked, and on the second occasion, my

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bag actually snatched from me. This seemed a bit thick,

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even for a city as sophisticated as New York. The

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taxicab bore me to Grand Central Station, where I secured

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my tickets at the booking office after the train had started.

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There recurred to my mind the odd request of my

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Canadian cousin. He had demanded that his legacy be paid

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in gold, a decision which, under the terms of the

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will left no choice to my uncle and me. Its

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executors and hence I was lugging the valuable stuff on

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my person. The visit to Niagara Falls was not to

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be given up, and nothing occurred to increase my apprehension

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during my stopover at the famous resort. At the end

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of the following day, after much discomfort from the excrapable

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train service, I reached my destination and hastened to a hostelry.

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That evening I ascertained something of my relatives, most of

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my information coming from a garrulous waitress who needed but

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the merest hint of a question, not only to answer it,

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but to anticipate five others. Thus it came about that

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I learned that David Warren, my cousin many times removed,

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was a queer duck, that he was rarely seen downtown

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these days because in the past he had had trouble

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with the authorities. Whether it was intended to intimate that

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the man drank or what, I did not find out.

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And finally that the further I stayed away from his dump,

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the better it would be for me. It was nearly

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nine o'clock in the evening when I reached the Warren

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residence in the outskirts of town. The building was large

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and rambling with picturesque gables that loomed out in the

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peculiar twilight glow of the northern country. As I passed

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through the gateway, I perceived every evidence of dilapidation and decay.

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There was not a light to be seen in the house.

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With considerable misgiving, I proceeded up the long, grass grown

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walk to the door and plied the ancient knocker. No

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one answered. I waited a few moments, feeling less and

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less inclined for my task. Suddenly the door swung open silently.

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I was confronted by an elderly man who held aloft

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a candle and peered at me. Is this my cousin?

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He asked, if you are David Warren, I replied, I

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am David Warren, he said slowly, and then added more quickly,

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as if anticipating his remiss as a relative and host.

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But come in, sir, come in. As he lowered the

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candle and turned to close the door, I was startled

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to see that he wore a black patch over one eye.

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Whatever my first impressions of the man may have been,

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certainly nothing occurred during the remainder of the evening to

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excite distrust. He carried no side and treated me with

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the greatest cordiality. Indeed, there was that about him which

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gave me satisfaction that he was my own blood. He

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was the first low pitched voice I had heard since

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I left England. With this opinion of my relative and host,

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therefore I accepted his invitation to continue his guest, and soon,

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with every sense of fear lulled, was shown to a

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chamber at the head of the stairs. I respected his

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sense of delicacy in not mentioning the object of my

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visit up to that time, and did not refer to

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it myself, for the reason that I did not wish

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to have him know I had taken such precautions as

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to conceal the gold about my person. How long I

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slept I do not know, but some time must have

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elapsed when suddenly I found myself wide awake. I sat up, trembling,

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my hearing, alert for the noise that had disturbed me.

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Then it came a faint call, near and yet far distant,

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like the successful effort of a ventriloquist. It seemed that

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the word I had heard was help. Thoroughly alarmed, I

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thrust a hand under my pillow. The gold was still there.

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I decided to reconnoiter and tiptoed downstairs to the living room,

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lighting an occasional waxed festa. I had about concluded that,

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in my nervous condition, I was the victim of a hallucination.

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When my attention was attracted by an ancient writing desk.

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Something quite projected from under the blotter, and quite casually

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I pulled it out. It was the letter that had

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been in the bag snatched from me in New York.

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The sight of that bit of inanimate evidence, my positive

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knowledge that it came from a stolen gladstone caused my

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heart to flutter to my room. I returned, but sleep

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was not possible, and I relieved the tedium of waiting

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for daylight by a thorough examination of my quarters. At

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seven o'clock there was a rap at the door, and

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old Negress signed for me to follow. Good morning, I

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heard as I entered the dining room. I trust you

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slept well, my cousin. The man with the black patch

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stood by the window, his good eye resting on me splendidly.

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I lied as we finished breakfast, however, and I made

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no mention of the purpose of my visit. My host

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appeared restless. He rose from the table, and now he said,

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almost sharply, I assume you have with you the amount

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of my legacy one thousand pounds. Sorry, I said, but

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I thought it advisable to deposit the gold in the

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bank of Niagara Falls. The weight of the stuff made

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traveling tremendously uncomfortable. He proved a consummate actor. Of course,

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of course, he exclaimed, with quick buoyancy. Let's not worry

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about it. We can manage it. Later, twice that day

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I endeavored to slip away, but each time my host,

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with a manner disarmingly casual, contrived to join me. On

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the second occasion, I had reached the road and started

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for the village, when with profuse apologies for his carelessness,

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he overtook me. I concluded the walk in his company.

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It accomplished nothing. Again and again, as we passed along

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the streets of the little town, I noted the curious

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gaze of those we met, and the words of the

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women's scullion recurred to me. The man with me spoke

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to no one, and no one spoke to him. Meanwhile,

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he kept up a running fire of commentary his thoughts

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seemed to race by the way. He exclaimed, as we

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turned to retrace our steps, I haven't shown you my laboratory. Later,

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in exhibiting his workshop, he evinced extreme nervousness. This I,

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he exclaimed, I lost a year ago in an experiment.

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At the thought of the sightless socket beneath the black patch,

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I felt it difficult to repress a shudder. That evening

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with my host did not serve to allay my fears.

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I had definitely planned to remain and keep awake all

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night and in the morning to communicate any event with

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the authorities. During the long hours it followed, I lay

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fully dressed on my bed, revolver in hand, but the

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vigil was too much for me in my exhausted condition,

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and I finally dozed. It must have been after two

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o'clock when I awoke and laid tents. A hand was

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being moved cautiously back and forth beneath my pillow. The

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search was thorough, but the gold was not there. It

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was again fastened about my body, and the owner of

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the hand seemed to conclude that some other course was necessary.

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For a moment later, I heard him steal out as

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I slid from the bed. There came a sound as

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if someone had stumbled in the hallway. Instantly it was

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followed by a horrible shriek. Again and again it pierced

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the air. The hair on my head stiffened with fear.

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Flinging open the door to my room, I could just

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make out that a terrible struggle was in progress between

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two men. It continued for a brief bit, and presently

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I heard a long, drawn sigh. One of the combatants

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slid to the floor. I waited no longer, but leapt

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into the passageway. My hands extended before me. Suddenly, in

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the darkness, they touched those of another. He was feeling

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for me. We crouched there for an instant, each reaching

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for the other, as in the preliminaries of a wrestling match.

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His fingers were hot and slippery with moisture. Then he

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rushed me. The pistol was not from my hand, and

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the next instant the two of us were struggling together

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to and fro We staggered. Finally, my feet tripped over

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the prostrate body of the man on the floor. My

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adversary and I went down together. The fall loosened his

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grip I was able to breathe more freely, and I

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got a hand on his throat. The other hand wandering

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about his face and clutching something. I shrieked with the

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horror of it. One of my fingers was digging into

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the empty socket of a human eye. Wild with pain,

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my antagonist arose sheer from the floor, flinging me off

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as if I had been a child. An instant later

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I heard him running down the stairs. It has been

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difficult for me since to understand my course. That dreadful night,

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I was insensate. I followed the man with one eye,

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for I fell felt that murder had been done. It

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was moonlight and I could see him plainly, with incredible swiftness.

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The figure sped over the landscape and made for a trestle,

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which spanned a crevasse half a mile in the distance.

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I knew that on the opposite side of it was

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a heavily wooded stretch, and fearing his escape, I endeavored

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to head him off. He reached the bridge a few

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seconds before me, however, and to my horror, I saw

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him poise his body at one side. The next moment

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he went over, I think we both screamed then the

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one eyed man as he whirled through the moonlight to

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his death, and I as I watched him. Not until

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daybreak did I come to myself. The soles of my

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boots were scuffed through, and I seemed to have been

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running for hours, running to blot out of my vision

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the sight of the body spinning downward into the abyss,

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running to brush from the tentacles of my memory. The

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horrid thought that I had driven a human being to

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his death, then filled with forebodings as to the identity

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of the body over which I had stumbled earlier that night,

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I started to return. When I reached the house, it

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was a long time before I could summons courage to enter.

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Once inside, however, I gained confidence and hastened upstairs. The

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body was gone from the hall, but in the small

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room at one end, a mere closet, I found what

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I was looking for, the body of the man who

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had fallen in the struggle in the night, evidently had

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dragged himself thither. His heart was still beating, and I

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carried him downstairs. He was heavy, and I groaned with

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relief as the weight slipped from my arms to the floor.

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Then I looked at the face. Never shall I forget it.

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It was my host. The black patch was displaced. It

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covered a perfectly good eye. I must have swooned at

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the sight. For the next I knew there were many

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men about me. They came from the village and had

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been notified by the old negress. I was taken into

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custody and lodged for three weary hours in a ridiculously

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small place they called a lock up. At the end

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of that time, I was led before a magistrate who

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took my statement. Next morning I was informed that the

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body of David Warren had been found in the ravine.

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It confirmed my worst fears. I had driven to his

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death my own cousin. That day the authorities obtained a

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confession from the man who wore the black patch. He

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was unknown to them and stated that his name was Douglas.

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For about three months he had had been employed by

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David Warren as an assistant in the laboratory work. Having

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opened by mistake the first letter from our solicitor, Douglas

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learned of the legacy and kept my cousin in ignorance

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of it for two months. He had confined David Warren

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under circumstances of the greatest cruelty in the little closet

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at the end of the hall. He insured the silence

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of the old negress by threats of death. How Warren

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escaped from his room, Douglas could not say. He suspected

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that the negress finally had dared to unlock the door.

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In any event, my cousin met Douglas in the dark

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just after the latter stepped from my room after his

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futile attempt to steal the gold. Then ensued the struggle

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in the hallway that I had heard, and in which

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Warren stabbed the impostor with a knife, a wound that

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would later result in the death of the criminal. Although

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aware that we had never seen our Canadian cousin, Douglas

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wore the black patch, fearing that we might know that

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David Warren had lost an eye. After the inquest, I hurried,

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shaken and trembling, to the hotel and packed the stolen Gladston,

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which had been found and returned to me. Then, feeling

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that I had sufficiently vivid impressions of America, I purchased

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a draft with the gold and started on the long

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journey home. The end of the black Patch by Julian

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Kilmen