The Pointing Man

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The Pointing Man

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Title: The Pointing Man A Burmese Mystery
Author: Marjorie Douie
Release Date: November 15, 2004 [EBook #14049]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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POINTING MAN ***

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THE POINTING MAN
A Burmese Mystery BY MARJORIE DOUIE

NEW YORK E.P. DUTTON & COMPANY 1920

CONTENTS
I
IN WHICH THE DESTINY THAT PLAYS WITH MEN MOVES
THE PIECES ON THE BOARD
II
TELLS THE STORY OF A LOSS, AND HOW IT AFFECTED THE
REV. FRANCIS HEATH
III
INDICATES A STANDPOINT COMMONLY SUPPOSED TO
REPRESENT THE PRINCIPLES OF THE JESUIT FATHERS
IV
INTRODUCES THE READER TO MRS. WILDER IN A
SECRETIVE MOOD
V
CRAVEN JOICEY, THE BANKER, FINDS THAT HIS MEMORY IS
NOT TO BE TRUSTED
VI
TELLS HOW ATKINS EXPLAINS FACTS BY PEOPLE AND NOT
PEOPLE BY FACTS, AND HOW HARTLEY, HEAD OF THE
POLICE, SMELLS THE SCENT OF APPLE ORCHARDS
GROWING IN A FOOL'S PARADISE
VII

FINDS THE REV. FRANCIS HEATH READING GEORGE
HERBERT'S POEMS, AND LEAVES HIM PLEDGED TO A
POSSIBLY COMPROMISING SILENCE
VIII
SHOWS HOW THE CLOAK OF DARKNESS OF ONE NIGHT
HIDES MANY EMOTIONS, AND MRS. WILDER IS FRANKLY
INQUISITIVE
IX
MRS. WILDER IS PRESENTED IN A MELTING MOOD, AND
DRAYCOTT WILDER IS FORCED TO RECALL THE LINES
COMMENCING "A FOOL THERE WAS"
X
IN WHICH CRAVEN JOICEY IS OVERCOME BY A SUDDEN
INDISPOSITION, AND HARTLEY, WITHOUT LOOKING FOR
HIM, FINDS THE MAN HE WANTED
XI
SHOWS HOW THE "WHISPER FROM THE DAWN OF LIFE"
ENABLES CORYNDON TO TAKE THE DRIFTING THREADS
BETWEEN HIS FINGERS
XII
SHOWS HOW A MAN MAY CLIMB A HUNDRED STEPS INTO A
PASSIONLESS PEACE, AND RETURN AGAIN TO A WORLD OF
SMALL TORMENTS
XIII
PUTS FORWARD THE FACT THAT A SUDDEN FRIENDSHIP
NEED NOT BE BASED UPON A SUDDEN LIKING; AND PASSES
THE NIGHT UNTIL DAWN REVEALS A SHAMEFUL SECRET

XIV
TELLS HOW SHIRAZ, THE PUNJABI, ADMITTED THE
FRAILTIES OF ORDINARY HUMANITY, AND HOW
CORYNDON ATTENDED AFTERNOON SERVICE, AND
CONSIDERED THE VEXED QUESTION OF TEMPERAMENT
XV
IN WHICH THE FURTHERING OF A STRANGE COMRADESHIP
IS CONTINUED, AND A BEGGAR FROM AMRITZAR CRIES IN
THE STREETS OF MANGADONE
XVI
IN WHICH LEH SHIN IS BREATHED UPON BY A JOSS AND
EXPERIENCES THE TERROR OF A MAN WHO TOUCHES THE
VEIL BEHIND WHICH THE IMMORTALS DWELL
XVII
TELLS HOW CORYNDON LEARNS FROM THE REV. FRANCIS
HEATH WHAT THE REV. FRANCIS HEATH NEVER TOLD HIM
XVIII
THE REV. FRANCIS HEATH UNLOCKS HIS DOOR AND SHOWS
WHAT LIES BEHIND
XIX
IN WHICH LEH SHIN WHISPERS A STORY INTO THE EAR OF
SHIRAZ, THE PUNJABI; THE BURDEN OF WHICH IS: "HAVE I
FOUND THEE, O MINE ENEMY?"
XX
CRAVEN JOICEY, THE BANKER, IS FACED BY A MAN WITH A
WHIP IN HIS HAND, AND CORYNDON FINDS A CLUE

XXI
DEMONSTRATES THE PERSUASIVE POWER OF A KNIFE
EDGE, AND TELLS A STORY OF A GOLD LACQUER BOWL
XXII
IN WHICH CORYNDON HOLDS THE LAST THREAD AND
DRAWS IT TIGHT
XXIII
DEMONSTRATES THE TRUTH OF THE AXIOM THAT "THE
UNEXPECTED ALWAYS HAPPENS"
XXIV
IN WHICH A WOODEN IMAGE POINTS FOR THE LAST TIME
GLOSSARY

THE POINTING MAN
I
IN WHICH THE DESTINY THAT PLAYS WITH MEN MOVES
THE PIECES ON THE BOARD
Dust lay thick along the road that led through the very heart of the
native quarter of Mangadone; dust raised into a misty haze which hung
in the air and actually introduced a light undernote of red into the effect.
Dust, which covered the bare feet of the coolies, the velvet slippers of
the Burmese, which encroached everywhere and no one regarded, for
presently, just at sundown, shouting watermen, carrying large bamboo
vessels with great spouts, would come running along the road, casting
the splashing water on all sides, and reduce the dry powder to
temporary mud.

The main street of the huge bazaar in Mangadone was as busy a
thoroughfare as any crowded lane of the city of London, and it blazed
with colour and life as the evening air grew cool. There were shops
where baskets were sold, shops apparently devoted only to the sale of
mirrors, shops where tailors sat on the ground and worked at sewing
machines; sweet stalls, food stalls, cafés, flanked by dusty tubs of
plants and crowded with customers, who reclined on sofas and chairs
set right into the street itself. Nearer the river end