The newspaper., 1909-01-08

eb SOfittAS O~N ~ q ''S'ii~ ~ OSh-
firmed Bachelors.
''Nivver a wan. scr. rhure. III house
do be quiet's amy r.5-"
''Then who was y, O'Hagan? -
"Leddy. sor:''-il ua3-Gaaed amaze
ment
Yes impatiently. a young WON
an left the house just as l was COM
ing in. Who was she?"
"Shure an think ye must be
'dr'amin', scr. Divvle a female-ray-
'spicts to ye.-has been in this house
for NANNY an NANNY tn wake. sol" !"
But, tell you"
''Belike twas somewan jist sthepped
into the vesthibule. mebbe to tie her
shoe. sor, and ye thought"
"Oh, very WELL Maitland relin-
quished the inquisition as Improbable.
willing to concede O'Hagan's theory a
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, OHagan." he
told the lris-man. you may come and
shave me and lay out my things. if
you will
Very good. sor. In. wan minute
But O'Hagan's conception of the
passage of 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" O'Hagan 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 unruffied. 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
bric-a-brac seemed to be sadly in want
OF thorough dusting In the end ne
brought up I'm the room that served
him as study and lounge-the drawing
room Of the fiat. as planned in the for
gotten architects scheme-a large and
cll-lifhted apartment overlooking the
rect Here. pausing beneath the
iandelier he looked about him for a
oment. determining that. as else
here. 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
its 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 late
at dinner. No matter: he would as
willingly miss it altogether. For the
time being he was absorbed in vain
speculations about an unknown wom-
an whose sole claim upon his consid-
Grafton lay in a certain but immaterial
glamour of mystery. Had she, or had
she not, been in the house? And, If
the true answer were in the afiirma-
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, strident, inarticulate,
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