Agatha Webb

Agatha Webb, by Anna
Katherine Green

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Agatha Webb, by Anna Katherine
Green (#9 in our series by Anna Katherine Green)
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: Agatha Webb
Author: Anna Katherine Green

Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5162] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on May 24,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, AGATHA
WEBB ***

Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

AGATHA WEBB
BY ANNA KATHARINE GREEN (MRS. CHARLES ROHLFS)
AUTHOR OF "THE LEAVENWORTH CASE," "THAT AFFAIR
NEXT DOOR" "LOST MAN'S LANE," ETC.

THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED TO MY FRIEND
PROFESSOR A. V. DICEY
OF OXFORD, ENGLAND

CONTENTS
BOOK I
THE PURPLE ORCHID

I--A Cry on the Hill II--One Night's Work III--The Empty Drawer
IV--The Full Drawer V--A Spot on the Lawn VI--"Breakfast is Served,
Gentlemen!" VII--"Marry Me" VIII--"A Devil That Understands Men"
IX--A Grand Woman X--Detective Knapp Arrives XI--The Man with a
Beard XII--Wattles Comes XIII--Wattles Goes XIV--A Final
Temptation XV--The Zabels Visited XVI--Local Talent at Work
XVII--The Slippers, the Flower, and What Sweetwater Made of Them
XVIII--Some Leading Questions XIX--Poor Philemon XX--A Surprise
for Mr. Sutherland
BOOK II
THE MAN OF NO REPUTATION
XXI--Sweetwater Reasons XXII--Sweetwater Acts XXIII--A Sinister
Pair XXIV--In the Shadow of the Mast XXV--In Extremity XXVI--The
Adventure of the Parcel XXVII--The Adventure of the Scrap of Paper
and the Three Words XXVIII--"Who Are You?" XXIX--Home Again
BOOK III
HAD BATSY LIVED!
XXX--What Followed the Striking of the Clock XXXI--A Witness
Lost XXXII--Why Agatha Webb will Never be Forgotten in
Sutherlandtown XXXIII--Father and Son XXXIV--"Not When They
Are Young Girls" XXXV--Sweetwater Pays His Debt at Last to Mr.
Sutherland

BOOK I
THE PURPLE ORCHID
I
A CRY ON THE HILL

The dance was over. From the great house on the hill the guests had all
departed and only the musicians remained. As they filed out through
the ample doorway, on their way home, the first faint streak of early
dawn became visible in the east. One of them, a lank, plain-featured
young man of ungainly aspect but penetrating eye, called the attention
of the others to it.
"Look!" said he; "there is the daylight! This has been a gay night for
Sutherlandtown."
"Too gay," muttered another, starting aside as the slight figure of a
young man coming from the house behind them rushed hastily by.
"Why, who's that?"
As they one and all had recognised the person thus alluded to, no one
answered till he had dashed out of the gate and disappeared in the
woods on the other side of the road. Then they all spoke at once.
"It's Mr. Frederick!"
"He seems in a desperate hurry."
"He trod on my toes."
"Did you hear the words he was muttering as he went by?"
As only the last question was calculated to rouse any interest, it alone
received attention.
"No; what were they? I heard him say something, but I failed to catch
the words."
"He wasn't talking to you, or to me either, for that matter; but I have
ears that can hear an eye wink. He said: 'Thank God, this night of
horror is over!' Think of that! After such a dance and such a spread, he
calls the night horrible and thanks God that it is over. I thought he was
the very man to enjoy this kind of thing."
"So did I."

"And so did I."
The five musicians exchanged looks, then huddled in a group at the
gate.
"He has quarrelled with his sweetheart," suggested one.
"I'm not surprised at that," declared another. "I never thought it would
be a match."
"Shame if it were!" muttered the ungainly youth who had spoken first.
As the subject of this comment was the son of the gentleman whose
house they were just leaving, they necessarily spoke low; but their
tones were rife with curiosity, and