The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1912-12-19
lat door was locked

! The next nil lat door was locked
on the inside. The young man had
taken possession. AS he put away
the remnants of a meal he had cooked
for himself, he cast look at his sur
rounoings, and imperceptibly sighed
! Then he frightened again, and sitting
down on his solitary chair, he turned
! his eyes on the window which, uncur.
tanned and without shade, stared open.
mouthed, as it were, at the opposite
wall rising high across the court.
/ in that wall, one window only
seemed to interest him and that was
on a level with his own The shade
of this window was up. but there was
no light back of it and so nothing of
the interior could be seen. But his
eye remained fixed upon it, while his
hand, stretched out towards the lamu
burning near him, held itself in readi
ness to lower the light at minutes
notice.
Did he see only the opposite wall
and that unillumined window? Was
there no memory of the time when,
in a previous contemplation of those
dismal panes, he behold stretching be.
tween them and himself, long, low
bench with plain wooden tub upon
it, from which a dripping cloth beat
out upon the boards beneath a dismal
note, monotonous as the ticking of a
clock?
One might Judge that such memo
ries were indeed his, from the rapid
glance he cast behind him at the
place where the bed had stood in
those days. 1t was placed differently
now.
But if he saw, and if he heard these
suggestions from the past, he was not
less alive to the eXactions of the pres.
ent, for, as his glance flew back across
the court, his finger suddenly moved
End the flame it controlled sputtered
and went out. At the same instant.
the window opposite sprang into view
as the lamp was lit within, and for
several minutes the whole interior re.
NAMED visi1le---the books, the work
table, the cluttered furniture, and,
most interesting of all, its owner and
occupant. 1t was upon the latter that
the newcomer fixed his attention, and
with an absorption equal to that he
saw expressed in the countenance op.
posite.
But his was the absorption of
watchfulness; that OF the other of in
trospection. Mr.. Brotherson-(we
will no longer call him Dunn even
here where he is known by no other
name)-had entered the room clad in
his heavy overcOat and, not having
taken it Off before lighting his lamp,
still stood with it on, gazing eagerly
! down at the model occupying the
place of honor On the large center
table. He was not touching it-not
at this moment-but that his thoughts
were with it, that his whole mind was
concentrated on it, was evident to the
watcher across the court; and, as this
watcher took in this fact and noticed
the loving care with which the enthu.
siastic inventor finally put out his fin
ger to rearrange a. thread or twirl a
wheel, his disappointment found utter.
ance in sigh which echoed sadly
through the dull. and cheerless rocc
Had he expected this stern and self
contain I'd man to show an open IA
difference to work and the hopes o.
a lifetime? If SO, this was the first
Of the many surprises awaiting him.
He was gifted, however, with the
patience of an automaton and contin-
ued to watch his fellow tenant IS long
as the latter's shade remained up.
When it fell, he rose and took a few
steps up and down, but not with the
CELEBRITY and precision which usually
accompanied his movements. Doubt
disturbed his mind and impeded his
activity. He had caught fair glimpse
of Brotherson's face as he approached
the window, and though it continued
to show abstraction, it equally dis
played serenity and complete sat
isfaction with the present if not with
the future. Had he mistaken his man
after all? Was his instinct, for the
! first time in his active career, wholly
at fault?
He had succeeded in getting a
! glimpse of his quarry in the privacy
! of his own room, at home with his
thoughts and unconscious of any es-
! pionage, and how had he found him?
! Cheerful, and natural in all his move
ments.
But the evening was young. Retro
spect comes with later and more lone
Iy hours. There will be opportunities
yet for studying this impassive coun-
tenance under much more telling and
productive circumstances than these.
| He would await these opportunities
with cheerful anticipation. Mean
while, he would keep up the routine
watch he had planned for this night.