The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Evil Shepherd, by E. Phillips Oppenheim

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Title: The Evil Shepherd

Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim

Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5743]
Posting Date: June 13, 2009

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE EVIL SHEPHERD

By E. Philips Oppenheim

CHAPTER I

Francis Ledsam, alert, well-satisfied with himself and the world, the
echo of a little buzz of congratulations still in his ears, paused on
the steps of the modern Temple of Justice to light a cigarette before
calling for a taxi to take him to his club. Visions of a whisky and
soda--his throat was a little parched--and a rubber of easy-going bridge
at his favourite table, were already before his eyes. A woman who had
followed him from the Court touched him on the shoulder.

"Can I speak to you for a moment, Mr. Ledsam?"

The barrister frowned slightly as he swung around to confront his
questioner. It was such a familiar form of address.

"What do you want?" he asked, a little curtly.

"A few minutes' conversation with you," was the calm reply. "The matter
is important."

The woman's tone and manner, notwithstanding her plain, inconspicuous
clothes, commanded attention. Francis Ledsam was a little puzzled. Small
things meant much to him in life, and he had been looking forward almost
with the zest of a schoolboy to that hour of relaxation at his club.
He was impatient of even a brief delay, a sentiment which he tried to
express in his response.

"What do you want to speak to me about?" he repeated bluntly. "I shall
be in my rooms in the Temple to-morrow morning, any time after eleven."

"It is necessary for me to speak to you now," she insisted. "There is a
tea-shop across the way. Please accompany me there."

Ledsam, a little surprised at the coolness of her request, subjected his
accoster to a closer scrutiny. As he did so, his irritation diminished.
He shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"If you really have business with me," he said, "I will give you a few
minutes."

They crossed the street together, the woman s