a. 1. A roasted mallard duck, thought Soapy, would be about the thing with a bottle of wine and then some cheese, a cup of coffee and a cigar.
2. The meat would leave him filled and happy for the journey to his winter island.
b. It seemed that his route to the coveted island was not to be an easy one. Some other way of entering the limbo must be devised.
c. 1. The policeman refused to accept Soapy even as a clue.
2. The policeman saw a man half-way down the block running to catch a car. With drawn club he joined in the pursuit.
d. He hurled the umbrella angrily into the excavation.
e. He had known it well in the days when his life contained such things as mothers and roses and ambitions and friends and immaculate thoughts and collars.