The Call of Wings by Agatha Christie. Short summary

5 seconds

One day millionaire Silas Hamer heard an amazingly beautiful melody being played by a legless cripple. Now Silas felt happy and decided to change his life drastically.

1 minute

One night at dinner, millionaire Silas Hamer and Pastor Dick Borrow discuss how opposite they are, but each is happy in his own way. In the evening, Hamer returns home and sees a man hit by a bus. Silas thinks he might have saved that tramp.

In front of the house, he hears a legless piper playing a tune. This music makes the millionaire soar with happiness. Now he hears this melody all the time, like the call of wings. Silas goes to talk to the piper and find out who he is. In response, the cripple draws a picture of the faun god Pan with goat feet and says he got rid of them because they were «ugly.»

Now, after hearing a beautiful melody and becoming addicted to music, Silas feels that wealth prevents him from achieving true happiness. He donates all his money to Dick Borrow, a priest, to help the poor and do good works.

Hamer takes the subway home and sees a man fall on the tracks. Silas manages to help the poor man, but dies himself under the train.