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SELECTIONS FROM BRITISH WRITERS

Text 1
THE STYMPHALEAN BIRDS

After A. Christie

I
Harold Waring noticed them first walking up the path from the
lake. He was sitting outside the hotel on the terrace. The day was fine,
the lake was blue, and the sun was shining. Harold was smoking a
pipe and feeling that the world was a pretty good place.
His political career was shaping well. He was young, rather good-
looking, and quite free from romantic ties.
He had decided to take a holiday in Czechoslovakia so as to
have a real rest from everyone and everything. The hotel at Lake
Stempka, though small, was comfortable and not overcrowded. The
few people there were mostly foreigners. The only other English
people were an elderly woman, Mrs. Rice, and her married daughter,
Mrs. Clayton. Harold liked them both. Elsie Clayton was pretty in a
rather old-fashioned style, and was gentle and very shy. Mrs. Rice
was what is called a woman of character. She was tall, with a deep
voice and a masterful manner, but she had a sense of humour and was
good company.
The other people in the hotel had not aroused Harold's interest.
He had hardly noticed any one else – until this afternoon.
They came up the path from the lake very slowly, and when
Harold saw them he shivered a little. Surely there was something odd
about these two women. They had long curved noses, like birds, and
their faces were quite immobile. Over their shoulders they wore loose
cloaks that flapped in the wind like the wings of two big birds.
Harold thought to himself:
"They are like birds... birds of ill omen."
The women came straight up on the terrace and passed close by
him. They were not young – perhaps near fifty, and the resemblance
between them was so strong that they were obviously sisters. As they