The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pit Prop Syndicate, by Freeman Wills Crofts

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Title: The Pit Prop Syndicate

Author: Freeman Wills Crofts

Posting Date: November 3, 2008 [EBook #2013]
Release Date: December, 1999

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIT PROP SYNDICATE ***

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THE PIT PROP SYNDICATE

By Freeman Wills Crofts

CONTENTS

PART ONE THE AMATEURS

1. The Sawmill on the Lesque
2. An Interesting Suggestion
3. The Start of the Cruise
4. A Commercial Proposition
5. The Visit of the Girondin
6. A Change of Venue
7. The Ferriby Depot
8. The Unloading of the Girondin
9. The Second Cargo
10. Merriman Becomes Desperate
11. An Unexpected Ally

PART TWO THE PROFESSIONALS

12. Murder!
13. A Promising Clue
14. A Mystifying Discovery
15. Inspector Willis Listens In
16. The Secret of the Syndicate
17. "Archer Plants Stuff"
18. The Bordeaux Lorries
19. Willis Spreads His Net
20. The Double Cross

PART ONE. THE AMATEURS

CHAPTER 1. THE SAWMILL ON THE LESQUE

Seymour Merriman was tired; tired of the jolting saddle of his motor
bicycle, of the cramped position of his arms, of the chug of the engine,
and most of all, of the dreary, barren country through which he was
riding. Early that morning he had left Pau, and with the exception of
an hour and a half at Bayonne, where he had lunched and paid a short
business call, he had been at it ever since. It was now after five
o'clock, and the last post he had noticed showed him he was still
twenty-six kilometers from Bordeaux, where he intended to spend the
night.

"This confounded road has no end," he thought. "I really must stretch my
legs a bit."

A short distance in front of him a hump in the white ribbon of the road
with parapet walls narrowing in at each side indicated a bridge. He cut
off his engine and, allowing the machine to coast, brought it to a
stand at the summit. Then dismounting, he slid it back on its bracket;