Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1901-04-30

Arthur Landale was now sufficiently
well known to the cabmen In Portland
place to escape their solicitations. Let
1t be said at once, however, that he
owed this recognition to nothing but
the regularity Of his appearance there
at one particular time. Just when the
first thin veil of October dusk had
fallen and the cabmen were thinking
of lighting their lamps they saw him
daily walk from the direction Of Re-
gent street to this one corner and turn
at right angle along this one street.
On each day Of the last three weeks
they had seen him do this-in fact,
ever since the straw had been spread
on the roadway of this street before
the tenth house. And so familiar a
figure had he grown to them that they
had come in a rough, jesting way
which still concealed something OF
sympathy to speculate with each other
from the look of his face as he re.
turned and from the manner Of his
walk whether today "she was better OF
was worse"
AS the straw, however got more and
more trampled into muddy pulp such
speculations grew more and more diff
cult for the habit of these daily visits
gave to Landale's walk and attitude q
stereotyped and almost perfunctory
air. He came and went as man comes
and goes about his regular business.
and the few indications which his
manner afforded pointed not so much
to changes in the development OF
"her' malady as to changes wrought
in him by habit. For instance, he no
longer quickened his pace at the turn
ing as in the first days he had been nj
ways spurred to do by leaping feai
lest those lighted windows Of the Sec
ond floor should on this night be dark.
It Is true that he still glanced up to
the windows, but the glance was un.
conscious and merely habitual. Again
the passing Of a carriage before the
door and the noisy chatter of Its occu'
pants no longer brought him to a stop
and set him staring after it with a
queer sense Of incongruity between the
life which laughed outside and the life
which hickered painfully behind the
windows. Such infinitesimal changes
would have been imperceptible to all
but the most interested observer, and
indeed Landale was not aware of them
himself. So little aware was he In
fact that when standing on the door.
step on this particular evening he
heard the clock boom out the hour of .
he did not even so much as recollecs
the blind anger which he found used
formerly to wake In him, an anger
against world moving with steady
carelessness about its business.
"How Is Miss Ainsworth?" he asked,
and as a small matter Of detail it was
perhaps noticeable that the question OF
late had changed its form. During the
first fortnight he had used the more
eager phrase, "Is Miss Ainsworth bet
terW
One of the nurses chanced to open
the door, and she answered him grave
ly.
"Will you come in, If you please"
Landale stepped into the hall, and
the nurse continued:
Miss Ainsworth would like to see
you"
"She is up, then?"
"Now and the pause which followed
sufficiently commented upon the word.
Landale leaned against the wall Of the
passage without speaking. The nurse,
as though to give him time to recover
himself, walked very slowly to the foot
of the stairs and as slowly ascended
them. Landale was young, and she
falt sone nitv for him He WAS how