The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen: door till a slatternly servant girl came down looking more than
half asleep. The constable pointed out the contents of the area
to the maid, who screamed loudly enough to wake up the street,
but she knew nothing of the man; had never seen him at the
house, and so forth. Meanwhile, the original discoverer had
come back with a medical man, and the next thing was to get into
the area. The gate was open, so the whole quartet stumped down
the steps. The doctor hardly needed a moment's examination; he
said the poor fellow had been dead for several hours, and it was
then the case began to get interesting. The dead man had not
been robbed, and in one of his pockets were papers identifying
 The Great God Pan |