ISBN: 2940013081215

CHAPTER ISeen in the sad glamour of an English twilight, the old moat-house,emerging from the thin mists which veiled the green flats in which itstood, conveyed the impression of a habita… Plus…

CHAPTER ISeen in the sad glamour of an English twilight, the old moat-house,emerging from the thin mists which veiled the green flats in which itstood, conveyed the impression of a habitation falling into senility,tired with centuries of existence. Houses grow old like the race of men;the process is not less inevitable, though slower; in both, decay ishastened by events as well as by the passage of Time.The moat-house was not so old as English country-houses go, but it hadaged quickly because of its past. There was a weird and bloody historyattached to the place: an historical record of murders and stabbings andquarrels dating back to Saxon days, when a castle had stood on the spot,and every inch of the flat land had been drenched in the blood of serfsfighting under a Saxon tyrant against a Norman tyrant for the sacredcatchword of Liberty.The victorious Norman tyrant had killed the Saxon, taken his castle, andtyrannized over the serfs during his little day, until the greatertyrant, Death, had taught him his first--and last--lesson of humility.After his death some fresh usurper had pulled down his stolen castle,and built a moat-house on the site. During the next few hundred yearsthere had been more fighting for restless ambition, invariably connectedwith the making and unmaking of tyrants, until an English king lost hishead in the cause of Liberty, and the moat-house was destroyed by firefor the same glorious principle.It was rebuilt by the freebooter who had burnt it down; one PhilipHeredith, a descendant of Philip Here-Deith, whose name is inscribed inthe Domesday Book as one of the knights of the army of Duke Williamwhich had assembled at Dives for the conquest of England. Digital Content>E-books>Myst & Thrill>Mystery>Mystery, SAP Digital >16<

ISBN: 2940013081215

THE HAND IN THE DARK THE-HAND-IN-THE-DARK~~Arthur-J-Rees Mystery>Mystery>Mystery NOOK Book (eBook), SAP