Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1911-02-17

MIN glance, without even the tlem-
ping 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, assembled the single
fight 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 proving correct, he
called down:
"O'Hagan? Is that your"
"Th' saints presarve us! But twas
yersilf gave me tn sthart, Misther
Maitland, SORT" O'Hagan paused in
the gloom below, his upturned face
quantity Illuminated by the flame of a
wax taper in his gaslighter.
I'm dining in town tonight, OLA
gan, and dropped around to dress. Is
anybody else at homer"
"Nivyer wan, sor. Shure, tn house
90 be quiet's amy tomb"
"Then who was that lady, O'Hagan?"
"Leddy, sor?"-in unbounded amaze
ment.
Yes impatiently. "a young wom-
an left the house just as l was COM
ing in. Who was she?"
"Shure an l think ye must be
dr'amin', sor. Divvle a female-ray-
spicts to ye.-has been Ia this house
for nanny an nanny tfs wake, sol" 4"
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, O'Hagan," he
told the Irishman, "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 employee
which O'Hagan could be counted upon
to do very acceptably.
Now, with patience unruf1led, 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 1t 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 he
brought up in 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
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
its nearby arteries. Maitland rested
elbows on the sill and leaned out, star
ing absently into the night; for by
now 1t 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 afflrma-
tive, to what end, upon what errand?
His eyes focused insensibly upon
void of darkness he' cath him-night
made visible by amps; and he
found himself sAudenly and acutely
sensible of the wonder and mystery of