The Four Pools Mystery

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The Four Pools Mystery, by Jean Webster

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Title: The Four Pools Mystery
Author: Jean Webster
Release Date: April 30, 2007 [EBook #21264]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE FOUR-POOLS MYSTERY
BY JEAN WEBSTER
NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1908
Copyright, 1907, 1908, by THE CENTURY CO.
Published, March, 1908
THE DE VINNE PRESS
[Illustration: In the Cave]

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I INTRODUCING TERRY PATTEN 3 II I ARRIVE AT FOUR-POOLS PLANTATION 14 III I MAKE THE ACQUAINTANCE OF THE HA'NT 26 IV THE HA'NT GROWS MYSTERIOUS 39 V CAT-EYE MOSE CREATES A SENSATION 58 VI WE SEND FOR A DETECTIVE 76 VII WE SEND HIM BACK AGAIN 92 VIII THE ROBBERY REMAINS A MYSTERY 108 IX THE EXPEDITION TO LURAY 119 X THE TRAGEDY OF THE CAVE 135 XI THE SHERIFF VISITS FOUR-POOLS 143 XII I MAKE A PROMISE TO POLLY 151 XIII THE INQUEST 168 XIV THE JURY'S VERDICT 186 XV FALSE CLUES 196 XVI TERRY COMES 206 XVII WE SEARCH THE ABANDONED CABINS 222 XVIII TERRY ARRIVES AT A CONCLUSION 247 XIX TERRY FINDS THE BONDS 262 XX POLLY MAKES A CONFESSION 271 XXI MR. TERENCE KIRKWOOD PATTEN OF NEW YORK 285 XXII THE DISCOVERY OF CAT-EYE MOSE 296 XXIII MOSE TELLS HIS STORY 314 XXIV POLLY MAKES A PROPOSAL 329

THE FOUR-POOLS MYSTERY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCING TERRY PATTEN
It was through the Patterson-Pratt forgery case that I first made the acquaintance of Terry Patten, and at the time I should have been more than willing to forego the pleasure.
Our firm rarely dealt with criminal cases, but the Patterson family were long standing clients, and they naturally turned to us when the trouble came. Ordinarily, so important a matter would have been put in the hands of one of the older men, but it happened that I was the one who had drawn up the will for Patterson Senior the night before his suicide, therefore the brunt of the work devolved upon me. The most unpleasant part of the whole affair was the notoriety. Could we have kept it from the papers, it would not have been so bad, but that was a physical impossibility; Terry Patten was on our track, and within a week he had brought down upon us every newspaper in New York.
The first I ever heard of Terry, a card was sent in bearing the inscription, "Mr. Terence K. Patten," and in the lower left-hand corner, "of the Post-Dispatch." I shuddered as I read it. The Post-Dispatch was at that time the yellowest of the yellow journals. While I was still shuddering, Terry walked in through the door the office boy had inadvertently left open.
He nodded a friendly good morning, helped himself to a chair, tossed his hat and gloves upon the table, crossed his legs comfortably, and looked me over. I returned the scrutiny with interest while I was mentally framing a polite formula for getting rid of him without giving rise to any ill feeling. I had no desire to annoy unnecessarily any of the Post-Dispatch's young men.
At first sight my caller did not strike me as unlike a dozen other reporters. His face was the face one feels he has a right to expect of a newspaper man--keen, alert, humorous; on the look-out for opportunities. But with a second glance I commenced to feel interested. I wondered where he had come from and what he had done in the past. His features were undeniably Irish; but that which chiefly awakened my curiosity, was his expression. It was not only wide-awake and intelligent; it was something more. "Knowing" one would say. It carried with it the mark of experience, the indelible stamp of the street. He was a man who has had no childhood, whose education commenced from the cradle.
I did not arrive at all of these conclusions at once, however, for he had finished his inspection before I had fairly started mine. Apparently he found me satisfactory. The smile which had been lurking about the corners of his mouth broadened to a grin, and I commenced wondering uncomfortably what there was funny about my appearance. Then suddenly he leaned forward and began talking in a quick, eager way, that required all my attention to keep abreast of him. After a short preamble in which he set forth his view of the Patterson-Pratt case--and a clearsighted view it was--he commenced asking questions. They were such amazingly impudent questions that they nearly