The Huttig news., 1908-09-26

Then who was that lady. O'Hagan? ?"
 Ieddy, sor?"-in unbounded amaze ment
 Yes" impatiently "A young wom- an left the house just as was com ing in. Who was she?"
 "Shure an I think ye must be dr'amin', sor Divvle female-ray- spicts to ye!-has been in this house for nanny an nanny tn wake. sor."
 "Eut. l tell you
 Belike twas somewan jist sthepped into the vesthibule, mebbe to tie her shoe. sor. and ye thought"
 "Oh. very we'll" Maitland reiin- quished the inquisition as unprofitable. willing to concede O'Hagan's theory reasonable one, the more readily since he himself could by no means have sworn that the woman had actually come out through the door. Such had merely been his impression, honest enough, but founded on circumstan- tial evidence.
 When you're through, O'Hagan," he told the lrishman, you may come and shave me and lay out my things, if you will"
 Very good, sor. In wan minute"
 But OHagan's conception of the passage eff time was a thought vague, his one minute had heightened into ten before he appeared to wait upon his employer
 Now and again, in the absence of the regular man 0Hagan would at tend one or another of the tenants in the capacity of substitute valet; as in the present instance, when Maitland having left his hosts roof without troubling even to notify his body-serv ant that he would not return that night, called upon the janitor to under study the more trained employe. which O'Hagan could be counted upon to do very acceptably.
 Now. with patience unrufIied, since he was nothing keen for the evenings enjoyment, Maitland made profit of the interval to wander through his rooms, lighting the gas here and there and noting that all was as it should be- as it had been left-save that every article of furniture and brie-a brac seemed to be sadly in want of a thorough dusting In the end he | brought up in the room that served him as study and lounge-the drawing room of the flat, as planned in the for gotten architects scheme-a large and well-lighted apartment overlooking the street. Here, pausing beneath the chandelier, he looked about him for a moment, determining that, as else where, all things were in order-but gray with dust.
 Finding the atmosphere heavy, stale. and oppressive, Maitland moved over to the windows and threw them open. A gush of warm air, humid and redo lent of the streets, invaded the room, together with the roar of traffic from it's nearby arteries. Maitland rested elbows on the sill and leaned out. star ing absently into the night; for by now it was quite dark. Without con cern, he realized that he would be lat, at dinner. No matter; he would a willingly miss it altogether For tn time being he was absorbed in vail speculations about an unknown wom an whose sole claim upon his consid eration lay in a certain but immateria glamour of mystery. Had she, or had she not, been in the house? And, il the true answer were in the affirma tive. to what end, upon what errand?
 His eyes focused insensibly upon a void of darkness beneath him-night made visible by street lamps and he found himself suddenly and acutely sensible of the wonder and mystery of the City; the City whose secret life ran fluent upon the hot, hard pave ments below, whose voice throbbed sibilant, vague, stlfdent, inartieulate, upon the night air; the City of which he was a part equally with the girl in gray, whom he had never before seen, and in all likelihood was never to see again. though the two of them were to work out their destinies within the bounds of Manhattan island And yet.
 Tt would he strange" said Maitland thoughtfully, ''If .'' He shook his head, smiling. Two shall be born, quoted Mad Maitland senti- mentally
 "'Two shall be born the whole wide world apart"
 piano organ, having maliciously sneaked up beneath his window, drove him indoors with crash of metallic melody.
 As he dropped the curtains his eye was arrested by gleam of white upon his desk-a letter placed there doubt less, by O'Hagan in Maitland's ab- sence. At the same time. a splashing and gurgling of water from the direc- tion of the bathroom informed him that the ianitor-valet was even then preparing his bath. But that could wait
 Maitland took up the envelope and tore the flap, remarking the name and address of his lawyer in it's upper left hand corner. Unfolding the inclosure. he read a date a week old, and two ] lines requesting him to communicate with his legal adviser upon "a matter of pressing moment"