Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1907-01-10


fitted The lock smoothly. and his fin
gers turned it without hesitation,
though his heart. usually extremely
steady, heat sharply for a second The
hall doomed massive and somber. des-
pite the modernity of electric lights.
1t was daryly and extensively dec
Grated in blaek and brown; frieze
Of wrought bronze. representing pea
cocks with outspread tails. ornament
cd the walls; the banisters We're OF
heavy ronwork. and the somewhat
formidable fireplace was of the same
dark metal
Loder looked about him, then adj
vanced, his heart again beating quick
" as his hand touched the cold ban
lister and he began his ascent Of the
stairs. But at each step his conf
dence strengthened. his feet became
mere firm until, at the head of the
stairs, as if to disprove his assurance
his pulses played him false once more
this time to a more serious tune. From
the farther end of a well lighted cor.
ridor maid was coming straight in
his direction.
For one short second all things
seemed to whiz about him; the Ger
tainty of detection overpowered his
mind. The fndisputable knowledge
chat he was John Loder and no other,
despite all armor of effrontery and
dress, so dominated him that all other
considerations shrank before it. 1t
wanted but one word one simple word
of denunciation, and the whole scheme
was shattered In the dismay of the
moment he almost wished that the
word might be spoken and the sus-
pense ended
But the maid came on in silence, and
SO incredible was the silence that
Loder moved onward too. He came
within a yard of her. and still she did
not speak. Then, as he passed her,
she drew back respectfully against
the wall.
The strain, so astonishingly short,
had been immense, but with its slack
ening came a strong reaction. The ex-
pected humiliation seethed suddenly
to a desire to dare fate. Pausing
quickly, he turned and called the wo-
man back.
The spot where he had halted was
wildly bright, the ceiling light being
directly above his head, and as she
came toward him he raised his face de-
liberately and waited.
She looked at him without surprise
or interest. Eyes, sir?" she said.
rs your mistress in?'' he asked. He
could think of no other question, but it
served his purpose as a test Of his
voice.
Still the woman showed no surprise.
shes not in, sir" she answered. but
she's expected in half an hour"
I'm half an hour? All right. That's
all 1 wanted" With a movement of
decision Loder walked back to the stair
head, turned to the right and opened
the door of Chilcote's rooms,
The door opened on short, wide pas
sage. On one side stood the study, on
the other the bed, bath and dressing
rooms. With a blind sense of knowl-
edge and unfamiliarity, bred of much
description on Chilcote's part, he put
his hand on the study door and, still
exalted by the omen of his first sue
cess, turned the handle.
Inside the room there was freight
and lampIight and studious air OF
peace. The realization of this and a
slow incredulity at Chilcote's voluntary
remuneration were his first impressions
Then his attention was needed for more
imminent things.
AS he entered the new secretary was
returning a volume to its place on the
book shelves. AT sight of him he push
ed 1t hastily into position and turned
round
81 was making a few notes on the
political position of Khorasan," he said,
glancing with slight apprehensiveness
at the others face He was small
shy man, with few social attainments
but an extraordinary amount of learn
ing-the antithesis of the alert Bless
ington, whom he had replaced.
Loder bore his scrutiny without
finching. Indeed, it struck him sud
denly that there was fund of inter
est, almost of excitement in the en-
countering of each new pair of eyes
At the thought he moved forward tc
the desk.
Thank you Greening," he said. "a
very useful bit of work
The secretary glanced up, slightly
puzzled. His endurance had been Sc
verely taxed in the fourteen days thai
he had filled his new post.
"I'm glad you think so, sir" he said
hesitatingly. you rather poohpoohed
the matter this morning, if you remem
ber.".
Loder was taking off his coat, bu
stopped in the operation.
@This morning." he said "Oh, die
II? Did ~ Then struck by the op
portunity the words gave him he turn
ed toward the secretary. You've go
l. i ~ ai7