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- Артур Конан Дойл
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- Tales of Terror and Mystery
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I
am
aware
of
the
rumours
to
which
it
has
given
rise
.
These
speculations
,
whether
scandalous
or
superstitious
,
are
such
as
I
can
disregard
and
forgive
.
What
I
should
never
forgive
would
be
a
disloyal
spying
and
eavesdropping
in
order
to
satisfy
an
illicit
curiosity
.
But
of
that
,
Mr
.
Colmore
,
I
acquit
you
.
"
When
I
was
a
young
man
,
sir
,
many
years
younger
than
you
are
now
,
I
was
launched
upon
town
without
a
friend
or
adviser
,
and
with
a
purse
which
brought
only
too
many
false
friends
and
false
advisers
to
my
side
.
I
drank
deeply
of
the
wine
of
life
—
if
there
is
a
man
living
who
has
drunk
more
deeply
he
is
not
a
man
whom
I
envy
.
My
purse
suffered
,
my
character
suffered
,
my
constitution
suffered
,
stimulants
became
a
necessity
to
me
,
I
was
a
creature
from
whom
my
memory
recoils
.
And
it
was
at
that
time
,
the
time
of
my
blackest
degradation
,
that
God
sent
into
my
life
the
gentlest
,
sweetest
spirit
that
ever
descended
as
a
ministering
angel
from
above
.
She
loved
me
,
broken
as
I
was
,
loved
me
,
and
spent
her
life
in
making
a
man
once
more
of
that
which
had
degraded
itself
to
the
level
of
the
beasts
.
"
But
a
fell
disease
struck
her
,
and
she
withered
away
before
my
eyes
.
In
the
hour
of
her
agony
it
was
never
of
herself
,
of
her
own
sufferings
and
her
own
death
that
she
thought
.
It
was
all
of
me
.
The
one
pang
which
her
fate
brought
to
her
was
the
fear
that
when
her
influence
was
removed
I
should
revert
to
that
which
I
had
been
.
It
was
in
vain
that
I
made
oath
to
her
that
no
drop
of
wine
would
ever
cross
my
lips
She
knew
only
too
well
the
hold
that
the
devil
had
upon
me
—
she
who
had
striven
so
to
loosen
it
—
and
it
haunted
her
night
and
day
the
thought
that
my
soul
might
again
be
within
his
grip
.
"
It
was
from
some
friend
’
s
gossip
of
the
sick
room
that
she
heard
of
this
invention
—
this
phonograph
—
and
with
the
quick
insight
of
a
loving
woman
she
saw
how
she
might
use
it
for
her
ends
.
She
sent
me
to
London
to
procure
the
best
which
money
could
buy
.
With
her
dying
breath
she
gasped
into
it
the
words
which
have
held
me
straight
ever
since
.
Lonely
and
broken
,
what
else
have
I
in
all
the
world
to
uphold
me
?
But
it
is
enough
.
Please
God
,
I
shall
face
her
without
shame
when
He
is
pleased
to
reunite
us
!
That
is
my
secret
,
Mr
.
Colmore
,
and
whilst
I
live
I
leave
it
in
your
keeping
.
"
Bishop
’
s
Crossing
is
a
small
village
lying
ten
miles
in
a
south
-
westerly
direction
from
Liverpool
.
Here
in
the
early
seventies
there
settled
a
doctor
named
Aloysius
Lana
.
Nothing
was
known
locally
either
of
his
antecedents
or
of
the
reasons
which
had
prompted
him
to
come
to
this
Lancashire
hamlet
.
Two
facts
only
were
certain
about
him
;
the
one
that
he
had
gained
his
medical
qualification
with
some
distinction
at
Glasgow
;
the
other
that
he
came
undoubtedly
of
a
tropical
race
,
and
was
so
dark
that
he
might
almost
have
had
a
strain
of
the
Indian
in
his
composition
.
His
predominant
features
were
,
however
,
European
,
and
he
possessed
a
stately
courtesy
and
carriage
which
suggested
a
Spanish
extraction
.
A
swarthy
skin
,
raven
-
black
hair
,
and
dark
,
sparkling
eyes
under
a
pair
of
heavily
-
tufted
brows
made
a
strange
contrast
to
the
flaxen
or
chestnut
rustics
of
England
,
and
the
newcomer
was
soon
known
as
"
The
Black
Doctor
of
Bishop
’
s
Crossing
.
"
At
first
it
was
a
term
of
ridicule
and
reproach
;
as
the
years
went
on
it
became
a
title
of
honour
which
was
familiar
to
the
whole
countryside
,
and
extended
far
beyond
the
narrow
confines
of
the
village
.
For
the
newcomer
proved
himself
to
be
a
capable
surgeon
and
an
accomplished
physician
.
The
practice
of
that
district
had
been
in
the
hands
of
Edward
Rowe
,
the
son
of
Sir
William
Rowe
,
the
Liverpool
consultant
,
but
he
had
not
inherited
the
talents
of
his
father
,
and
Dr
.
Lana
,
with
his
advantages
of
presence
and
of
manner
,
soon
beat
him
out
of
the
field
.
Dr
.
Lana
’
s
social
success
was
as
rapid
as
his
professional
.
A
remarkable
surgical
cure
in
the
case
of
the
Hon
.
James
Lowry
,
the
second
son
of
Lord
Belton
,
was
the
means
of
introducing
him
to
county
society
,
where
he
became
a
favourite
through
the
charm
of
his
conversation
and
the
elegance
of
his
manners
.
An
absence
of
antecedents
and
of
relatives
is
sometimes
an
aid
rather
than
an
impediment
to
social
advancement
,
and
the
distinguished
individuality
of
the
handsome
doctor
was
its
own
recommendation
.
His
patients
had
one
fault
—
and
one
fault
only
—
to
find
with
him
.
He
appeared
to
be
a
confirmed
bachelor
.
This
was
the
more
remarkable
since
the
house
which
he
occupied
was
a
large
one
,
and
it
was
known
that
his
success
in
practice
had
enabled
him
to
save
considerable
sums
.
At
first
the
local
matchmakers
were
continually
coupling
his
name
with
one
or
other
of
the
eligible
ladies
,
but
as
years
passed
and
Dr
.
Lana
remained
unmarried
,
it
came
to
be
generally
understood
that
for
some
reason
he
must
remain
a
bachelor
.
Some
even
went
so
far
as
to
assert
that
he
was
already
married
,
and
that
it
was
in
order
to
escape
the
consequence
of
an
early
misalliance
that
he
had
buried
himself
at
Bishop
’
s
Crossing
.
And
,
then
,
just
as
the
matchmakers
had
finally
given
him
up
in
despair
,
his
engagement
was
suddenly
announced
to
Miss
Frances
Morton
,
of
Leigh
Hall
.
Miss
Morton
was
a
young
lady
who
was
well
known
upon
the
country
-
side
,
her
father
,
James
Haldane
Morton
,
having
been
the
Squire
of
Bishop
’
s
Crossing
.
Both
her
parents
were
,
however
,
dead
,
and
she
lived
with
her
only
brother
,
Arthur
Morton
,
who
had
inherited
the
family
estate
.
