Washington telegraph., 1909-05-07

other she nad passed down the steps
and swept by Maitland without giving
him a glance, without even the trem-
hing of an eyelash. And he had a
view of her back as she moved swiftly
away toward the avenue.
Perplexed, he fingered upon the
stoop until she had turned the corner;
after which he let himself in with a
latch key, and. dismissing the affair
temporarily from his thoughts, or pre-
tending to do so, ascended the single |
flight of stairs to his fat.
simultaneously heavy feet were to be
heard clumping up the basement steps;
and surmising that the janitor was
coming to light the hall, the young
man waited, leaning over the balus-
ters. His guess Hoving correct, he
called down:
"O'Hagan? Is that you?"
9TH saints presatve US! But twas
yersilf gave me th' sthart, Misther
Maitland, sor!" 0fHagan paused in
the gloom below, lhis apturned face
quantity Illuminated by the fame of
wax taper in his gaSlighter.
I'm dining in toaFn tonight, OLA
gan. and dropped arlbund to dress. Is
anybody else at ho1be?"
"Nivver wan, so1& Shure, tn house
do be quiets amy tdlmb-"
"Then who was thd / LADY, O'Hagan?'
"Leddy, sor?"-in dhnbounded amaze
ment.
"Yes." impatientiy.,H "a young wom
an left the house jus 1t as | was com
ing in. Who was she 7"
"Shure an I thini I ye must be
dramin'. sor. Diyyld female-ray
spicts to ye!-has bel pkn In this house
for nanny an mannA tn wake, sor.
but. tell you'll
''Belike twas someI an jist stheppet
into the vesthibtfie, ntSsDbe to tie he
shoe, sor, and ye tho4 ght-
ooh, very we'll" Maitland relin
quished the inquisitionl as unprohtapis
willing to concede OH hgan's theory
reasonable one. the moEite readily sine
he himself could by 10 means nav
sworn that the womal had actuali
come out through the 4 Dor. Such ha
merely been his imp1offssjen, homes
enough, but founded dIn circumsta'
tial evidence.
when you're through IOHagan,
told the Irishiaan, you hJFay come al
shave me and lay out tImy things
you WILL
VERY good, sor. In hn minute
But O'Hagan's conc4 ciPtion OF u
passage of time was Il pught yagu
his one minute had lei Ethened IN
ten before he appearedA 70 wait up
his employer.
Now and again In Il II absence
tend one Or another 81 -Anyhts IN
the capacity of substitut VALET as in
| the present instance, wi en Maitland,
having left his hosts Tpof without
| troubling even to notify lis hndy-serv-
ant that he would notr return that
night, called upon the an|ltor to under
study the more trainqd employe;
which O'Hagan could be{counted upon
to do very acceptably.
Now, with patience uhrufled, 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 1t
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 busting. In the end he
brought up in the room that served
him as study and lounEe--the drawing
room of the fiat, as planned in the for
gotten architects schehe-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
4 elbows on the sill and leaned out, star
| ing absently into the night; for by
now it was quite dark. Without con-
Germ, 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 certain but immaterial
glamour of mystery. Had she, or had
she not, been in the house? And If
the true answer were in the affirma-
tive, to what end, upon what errand?