



Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by the
Haithi Trust Org. --images digitized by Google (original
from University of Wisconsin)











Transcriber's Notes:
     1. Page scan source: Haithi Trust Org. images digitized by Google
        (original from University of Wisconsin)






IN QUEER STREET


BY
FERGUS HUME
AUTHOR OF
"THE MYSTERY OF A HANSOM CAB," "THE PINK SHOP,"
"ACROSS THE FOOTLIGHTS," "SEEN IN THE SHADOW,"
ETC., ETC.



LONDON
F. V. WHITE & CO., LTD.
17, BUCKINGHAM STREET, STRAND, W.C.
1913






CONTENTS

CHAP.
I.      THE BOARDING-HOUSE
II.     OLD SCHOOL-FELLOWS
III.    MAN PROPOSES
IV.     THE ADVERTISEMENT
V.      THE NEXT STEP
VI.     SEEKING TROUBLE
VII.    AN AMAZING DISCOVERY
VIII.   FAMILY HISTORY
IX.     GWEN
X.      VANE'S AUNT
XI.     MACBETH'S BANQUET
XII.    CUPID'S GARDEN
XIII.   DANGER
XIV.    AT BAY
XV.     A FRIEND IN NEED
XVI.    EXPLANATIONS
XVII.   BLACKMAIL
XVIII.  HENCH'S DIPLOMACY
XIX.    A DENIAL
XX.     REAPING THE WHIRLWIND
XXI.    THE SUNSHINE OR LIFE






IN QUEER STREET






IN QUEER STREET




CHAPTER I
THE BOARDING-HOUSE


"Here," explained the landlady, "we are not wildly gay, as the serious
aspect of life prevents our indulging in unrestrained mirth. Each one
of us is devoted to an ideal, Mr. Spruce."

"And what is the ideal, Mrs. Tesk?" asked the twinkling little man who
was proposing himself as a boarder.

"The intention of gaining wealth in virtuous ways, by exercising the
various talents with which we have been endowed by an All-seeing
Providence."

"If you eliminate the word 'virtuous,' most people have some such
ideal," was the dry reply of Mr. Spruce. "I want money myself, or I
shouldn't come to live here. A Bethnal Green lodging-house isn't my
idea of luxury."

"Boarding-house, if you please," said Mrs. Tesk, drawing up her thin
figure. "I would point out that my establishment is most superior.
Brought up in scholastic circles, I assisted my father and my husband
for many years in teaching the young idea how to shoot, and----"

"In plain English, you kept a school."

"Crudely put, it is as you say, Mr. Spruce," assented the landlady;
"but habit has accustomed me to express myself in a more elegant way.
My husband and my father having been long numbered with the angelic
host, I was unable to continue successfully as a teacher of youth. A
learned friend suggested to me that an excellent income might be
derived from a high-class boarding-house. Therefore I rented this
mansion for the purpose of entertaining a select number of paying
guests."

"Paying guests! How admirably you express yourself, Mrs. Tesk."

"It has always been my custom to do full justice to our beautiful
language, Mr. Spruce. Even my establishment has a name redolent of
classic times. It is called--and not unfittingly I think--The Home of
the Muses."

"So I observed in your advertisement. Why not call this place
Parnassus? Then one word would serve for five."

"The suggestion is not without merit," said the former
school-mistress. "I perceive, Mr. Spruce, that you have some knowledge
of the classics."

"I was educated at Winchester and Cambridge, Mrs. Tesk. The Home of
the Muses--what a delightful name and how very appropriate."

Poor Mrs. Tesk having no sense of humour, did not understand that this
last remark was ironical, and smiled gravely in full approval. Spruce
screwed in his eye-glass, and glanced with a shrug at his
surroundings. These were scarcely calculated to satisfy a sybarite,
being extremely ugly, inartistic, well-worn and dingy. The room, of no
great size, was over-crowded with clumsy furniture made in the early
years of the nineteenth century, when solidity was much more valued
than beauty. What with six ordinary chairs, two armchairs, a