The Strange Adventures of a Private Secretary in New York ♦ By Algernon ...

The Strange Adventures of a Private Secretary in New York ♦ By Algernon Blackwood ♦ Horror ♦ Audiobook



Title:  The Strange Adventures of a Private Secretary in New York



Author:  Algernon Blackwood



Genre(s): Horror & Supernatural Fiction



Language: English



Read By:  Kate Follis



Librivox Recording



Excerpt:

It was never quite clear to me how Jim Shorthouse managed to get his private secretaryship; but, once he got it, he kept it, and for some years he led a steady life and put money in the savings bank.



One morning his employer sent for him into the study, and it was evident to the secretary's trained senses that there was something unusual in the air.



"Mr. Shorthouse," he began, somewhat nervously, "I have never yet had the opportunity of observing whether or not you are possessed of personal courage.



Shorthouse gasped, but he said nothing. He was growing accustomed to the eccentricities of his chief. Shorthouse was a Kentish man; Sidebotham was "raised" in Chicago; New York was the present place of residence.



"But," the other continued, with a puff at his very black cigar, "I must consider myself a poor judge of human nature in future, if it is not one of your strongest qualities."



The private secretary made a foolish little bow in modest appreciation of so uncertain a compliment. Mr. Jonas B. Sidebotham watched him narrowly, as the novelists say, before he continued his remarks.



"I have no doubt that you are a plucky fellow and——" He hesitated, and puffed at his cigar as f his life depended upon it keeping alight.



"I don't think I'm afraid of anything in particular, sir—except women," interposed the young man, feeling that it was time for him to make an observation of some sort, but still quite in the dark as to his chief's purpose.



"Humph!" he grunted. "Well, there are no women in this case so far as I know. But there may be other things that—that hurt more."



"Wants a special service of some kind, evidently," was the secretary's reflection. "Personal violence?" he asked aloud.



"Possibly (puff), in fact (puff, puff) probably." Excerpt by Wikipedia



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