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Stevenson, Robert Louis

"The Wrecker"


From these considerations I was awakened by the
striking of the clock. An hour and nearly twenty
minutes had elapsed since Pinkerton departed for the
money: he was twenty minutes behind time; and to me,
who knew so well his gluttonous despatch of business,
and had so frequently admired his iron punctuality, the
fact spoke volumes. The twenty minutes slowly
stretched into an hour; the hour had nearly extended to
a second; and I still sat in my corner of the office,
or paced the marble pavement of the hall, a prey to the
most wretched anxiety and penitence. The hour for
lunch was nearly over before I remembered that I had
not eaten. Heaven knows I had no appetite; but there
might still be much to do--it was needful I should keep
myself in proper trim, if it were only to digest the
now too probable bad news; and leaving word at the
office for Pinkerton, I sat down to table and called
for soup, oysters, and a pint of champagne.
I was not long set before my friend returned. He
looked pale and rather old, refused to hear of food,
and called for tea.


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