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Etext by James Rusk, [email protected]. Italics are indicated by the underscore charcter, _.

THE GUILTY RIVER

by Wilkie Collins

CONTENTS

Chapter I

On the Way to the River

Chapter II

The River Introduces Us

Chapter III

He Shows Himself

Chapter IV

He Explains Himself Chapter

Chapter V

He Betrays Himself

Chapter VI

The Return of the Portfolio

Chapter VII

The Best Society

Chapter VIII

The Deaf Lodger

Chapter IX

Mrs. Roylake's Game: First Move

Chapter X

Warned!

Chapter XI

Warned Again!

Chapter XII

Warned for the Last Time!

Chapter XIII

The Claret Jug

Chapter XIV

Gloody Settles the Account

Chapter XV

The Miller's Hospitality

Chapter XVI

Bribery and Corruption

Chapter XVII

Utter Failure

Chapter XVIII

The Mistress of Trimley Deen

CHAPTER I

ON THE WAY TO THE RIVER

FOR reasons of my own, I excused myself from accompanying my stepmother to a dinner-party given in our neighborhood. In my present humor, I preferred being alone--and, as a means of getting through my idle time, I was quite content to be occupied in catching insects.

Provided with a brush and a mixture of rum and treacle, I went into Fordwitch Wood to set the snare, familiar to hunters of moths, which we call sugaring the trees.

The summer evening was hot and still; the time was between dusk and dark. After ten years of absence in foreign parts, I perceived changes in the outskirts of the wood, which warned me not to enter it too confidently when I might find a difficulty in seeing my way. Remaining among the outermost trees, I painted the trunks with my treacherous mixture--which allured the insects of the night, and stupefied them when they settled on its rank surface. The snare being set, I waited to see the intoxication of the moths.

A time passed, dull and dreary. The mysterious assemblage of trees was blacker than the blackening sky. Of millions of leaves over my head, none pleased my ear, in the airless calm, with their rustling summer song.

The first flying creatures, dimly visible by moments under the gloomy sky, were enemies whom I well knew by experience. Many a fine insect specimen have I lost, when the bats were near me in search of their evening meal.

What had happened before, in other woods, happened now. The first moth that I had snared was a large one, and a specimen well worth securing. As I stretched out my hand to take it, the apparition of a flying shadow passed, swift and noiseless, between me and the tree. In less than an instant the insect was snatched away, when my fingers were within an inch of it. The bat had begun his supper, and the man and the mixture had provided it for him.

Out of five moths caught, I became the victim of clever theft in the case of three. The other two, of no great value as specimens, I was just quick enough to secure. Under other circumstances, my patience as a collector would still have been a match for the dexterity of the bats. But on that evening--a memorable evening when I look back at it now--my spirits were depressed, and I was easily discouraged.