ADVENTURE books online

Reading books adventure Nowadays a big variety of genres are exist. In our electronic library you can choose any book that suits your mood, request and purpose. This website is full of free ebooks. Reading online is very popular and become mainstream. This website can provoke you to be smarter than anyone. You can read between work breaks, in public transport, in cafes over a cup of coffee and cheesecake.
No matter where, but it’s important to read books in our elibrary , without registration.



Today let's analyze the genre adventure. Genre adventure is a reference book for adults and children. But it serve for adults and children in different purposes. If a boy or girl presents himself as a brave and courageous hero, doing noble deeds, then an adult with pleasure can be a little distracted from their daily worries.


A great interest to the reader is the adventure of a historical nature. For example, question: «Who discovered America?»
Today there are quite interesting descriptions of the adventures of Portuguese sailors, who visited this continent 20 years before Columbus.




It should be noted the different quality of literary works created in the genre of adventure. There is an understandable interest of generations of people in the classic adventure. At the same time, new works, which are created by contemporary authors, make classic works in the adventure genre quite worthy competition.
The close attention of readers to the genre of adventure is explained by the very essence of man, which involves constant movement, striving for something new, struggle and achievement of success. Adventure genre is very excited
Heroes of adventure books are always strong and brave. And we, off course, want to be like them. Unfortunately, book life is very different from real life.But that doesn't stop us from loving books even more.

Read books online » Adventure » The House of a Thousand Candles by Meredith Nicholson (good ebook reader .TXT) 📖

Book online «The House of a Thousand Candles by Meredith Nicholson (good ebook reader .TXT) 📖». Author Meredith Nicholson



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that I’m here under a

flag of truce, and let’s see if we can’t come to an agreement.”

 

“It’s too late, Mr. Glenarm; too late. There was a

time when we might have done some business; but that’s

past now. You seem like a pretty decent fellow, too,

and I’m sorry I didn’t see you sooner; but better luck

next time.”

 

He stroked his yellow beard reflectively and shook his

head a little sadly. He was not a bad-looking fellow;

and he expressed himself well enough with a broad western

accent.

 

“Well,” I said, seeing that I should only make myself

ridiculous by trying to learn anything from him, “I

hope our little spats through windows and on walls won’t

interfere with our pleasant social relations. And I don’t

hesitate to tell you,”—I was exerting myself to keep

down my anger—“that if I catch you on my grounds

again I’ll fill you with lead and sink you in the lake.”

 

“Thank you, sir,” he said, with so perfect an imitation

of Bates’ voice and manner that I smiled in spite

of myself.

 

“And now, if you’ll promise not to fire into my back

I’ll wish you good day. Otherwise—”

 

He snatched off his hat and bowed profoundly. “It’ll

suit me much better to continue handling the case on

your grounds,” he said, as though he referred to a

business matter. “Killing a man on your own property

requires some explaining—you may have noticed it?”

 

“Yes; I commit most of my murders away from

home,” I said. “I formed the habit early in life. Good

day, Morgan.”

 

As I turned away he closed his door with a slam—a

delicate way of assuring me that he was acting in good

faith, and not preparing to puncture my back with a

rifle-ball. I regained the lake-shore, feeling no great

discouragement over the lean results of my interview,

but rather a fresh zest for the game, whatever the

game might be. Morgan was not an enemy to trifle

with; he was, on the other hand, a clever and daring

foe; and the promptness with which he began war on

me the night of my arrival at Glenarm House, indicated

that there was method in his hostility.

 

The sun was going his ruddy way beyond St. Agatha’s

as I drove my canoe into a little cove near which the

girl in the tam-o’-shanter had disappeared the day before.

The shore was high here and at the crest was a

long curved bench of stone reached by half a dozen

steps, from which one might enjoy a wide view of the

country, both across the lake and directly inland. The

bench was a pretty bit of work, boldly reminiscential of

Alma Tadema, and as clearly the creation of John

Marshall Glenarm as though his name had been carved

upon it.

 

It was assuredly a spot for a pipe and a mood, and

as the shadows crept through the wood before me and

the water, stirred by the rising wind, began to beat below,

I invoked the one and yielded to the other. Something

in the withered grass at my feet caught my eye.

I bent and picked up a string of gold beads, dropped

there, no doubt, by some girl from the school or a careless

member of the summer colony. I counted the separate

beads—they were round and there were fifty of

them. The proper length for one turn about a girl’s

throat, perhaps; not more than that! I lifted my eyes

and looked off toward St. Agatha’s.

 

“Child of the red tam-o’-shanter, I’m very sorry I

was rude to you yesterday, for I liked your steady stroke

with the paddle; and I admired, even more, the way you

spurned me when you saw that among all the cads in

the world I am number one in Class A. And these

golden bubbles (O girl of the red tam-o’-shanter!), if

they are not yours you shall help me find the owner, for

we are neighbors, you and I, and there must be peace

between our houses.”

 

With this foolishness I rose, thrust the beads into my

pocket, and paddled home in the waning glory of the

sunset.

 

That night, as I was going quite late to bed, bearing

a candle to light me through the dark hall to my room,

I heard a curious sound, as of some one walking stealthily

through the house. At first I thought Bates was still

abroad, but I waited, listening for several minutes, without

being able to mark the exact direction of the sound

or to identify it with him. I went on to the door of my

room, and still a muffled step seemed to follow me—first

it had come from below, then it was much like some one

going up stairs—but where? In my own room I still

heard steps, light, slow, but distinct. Again there was a

stumble and a hurried recovery—ghosts, I reflected, do

not fall down stairs!

 

The sound died away, seemingly in some remote part

of the house, and though I prowled about for an hour

it did not recur that night.

CHAPTER IX

THE GIRL AND THE RABBIT

 

Wind and rain rioted in the wood, and occasionally

both fell upon the library windows with a howl and a

splash. The tempest had wakened me; it seemed that

every chimney in the house held a screaming demon.

We were now well-launched upon December, and I was

growing used to my surroundings. I had offered myself

frequently as a target by land and water; I had sat

on the wall and tempted fate; and I had roamed the

house constantly expecting to surprise Bates in some act

of treachery; but the days were passing monotonously.

I saw nothing of Morgan—he had gone to Chicago on

some errand, so Bates reported—but I continued to walk

abroad every day, and often at night, alert for a reopening

of hostilities. Twice I had seen the red tam-o’-shanter

far through the wood, and once I had passed my

young acquaintance with another girl, a dark, laughing

youngster, walking in the highway, and she had bowed

to me coldly. Even the ghost in the wall proved inconstant,

but I had twice heard the steps without being able

to account for them.

 

Memory kept plucking my sleeve with reminders of

my grandfather. I was touched at finding constantly

his marginal notes in the books he had collected with so

much intelligence and loving care. It occurred to me

that some memorial, a tablet attached to the outer wall,

or perhaps, more properly placed in the chapel, would

be fitting; and I experimented with designs for it, covering

many sheets of drawing-paper in an effort to set

forth in a few words some hint of his character. On this

gray morning I produced this:

 

1835

The life of John Marshall Glenarm

was a testimony to the virtue of

generosity, forbearance and gentleness

The Beautiful things he loved

were not nobler than his own days

His grandson (who served him ill)

writes this of him

1901

 

I had drawn these words on a piece of cardboard and

was studying them critically when Bates came in with

wood.

 

“Those are unmistakable snowflakes, sir,” said Bates

from the window. “We’re in for winter now.”

 

It was undeniably snow; great lazy flakes of it were

crowding down upon the wood.

 

Bates had not mentioned Morgan or referred even remotely

to the pistol-shot of my first night, and he had

certainly conducted himself as a model servant. The

man-of-all-work at St. Agatha’s, a Scotchman named

Ferguson, had visited him several times, and I had surprised

them once innocently enjoying their pipes and

whisky and water in the kitchen.

 

“They are having trouble at the school, sir,” said

Bates from the hearth.

 

“The young ladies running a little wild, eh?”

 

“Sister Theresa’s ill, sir. Ferguson told me last

night!”

 

“No doubt Ferguson knows,” I declared, moving the

papers about on my desk, conscious, and not ashamed of

it, that I enjoyed these dialogues with Bates. I occasionally

entertained the idea that he would some day

brain me as I sat dining upon the viands which he prepared

with so much skill; or perhaps he would poison

me, that being rather more in his line of business and

perfectly easy of accomplishment; but the house was

bare and lonely and he was a resource.

 

“So Sister Theresa’s ill!” I began, seeing that Bates

had nearly finished, and glancing with something akin

to terror upon the open pages of a dreary work on English

cathedrals that had put me to sleep the day before.

 

“She’s been quite uncomfortable, sir; but they hope

to see her out in a few days!”

 

“That’s good; I’m glad to hear it.”

 

“Yes, sir. I think we naturally feel interested, being

neighbors. And Ferguson says that Miss Devereux’s devotion

to her aunt is quite touching.”

 

I stood up straight and stared at Bates’ back—he was

trying to stop the rattle which the wind had set up in

one of the windows.

 

“Miss Devereux!” I laughed outright.

 

“That’s the name, sir—rather odd, I should call it.”

 

“Yes, it is rather odd,” I said, composed again, but

not referring to the name. My mind was busy with a

certain paragraph in my grandfather’s will:

 

Should he fail to comply with this provision, said property

shall revert to my general estate, and become, without

reservation, and without necessity for any process of

law, the property, absolutely, of Marian Devereux, of the

County and State of New York.

 

“Your grandfather was very fond of her, sir. She

and Sister Theresa were abroad at the time he died. It

was my sorrowful duty to tell them the sad news in New

York, sir, when they landed.”

 

“The devil it was!” It irritated me to remember that

Bates probably knew exactly the nature of my grandfather’s

will; and the terms of it were not in the least

creditable to me. Sister Theresa and her niece were

doubtless calmly awaiting my failure to remain at

Glenarm House during the disciplinary year—Sister

Theresa, a Protestant nun, and the niece who probably

taught drawing in the school for her keep! I was sure

it was drawing; nothing else would, I felt, have brought

the woman within the pale of my grandfather’s beneficence.

 

I had given no thought to Sister Theresa since coming

to Glenarm. She had derived her knowledge of me

from my grandfather, and, such being the case, she

would naturally look upon me as a blackguard and a

menace to the peace of the neighborhood. I had, therefore,

kept rigidly to my own side of the stone wall. A

suspicion crossed my mind, marshaling a host of doubts

and questions that had lurked there since my first night

at Glenarm.

 

“Bates!”

 

He was moving toward the door with his characteristic

slow step.

 

“If your friend Morgan, or any one else, should shoot

me, or if I should tumble into the lake, or otherwise end

my earthly career—Bates!”

 

His eyes had slipped from mine to the window and I

spoke his name sharply.

 

“Yes, Mr. Glenarm.”

 

“Then Sister Theresa’s niece would get this property

and everything else that belonged to Mr. Glenarm.”

 

“That’s my understanding of the matter, sir.”

 

“Morgan, the caretaker, has tried to kill me twice

since I came here. He fired at me through the window

the night I came—Bates!”

 

I waited for his eyes to meet mine again. His hands

opened and shut several times, and alarm and fear convulsed

his face for a moment.

 

“Bates, I’m trying my best to think well of you; but

I want

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