Wasittoescapeanylackofconcentrationwhichthesesamememoriesmightbring,thatheroseandsteppedtothewindow?Orwasitunderoneofthoseinvoluntaryimpulseswhichmoveusinspiteofourselvestodotheverythingourjudgmentdisapproves?
NosoonerhadheapproachedthesillthanMr。Brotherson’sshadeflewwayupandhe,too,lookedout。Theirglancesmet,andforaninstantthehardydetectiveexperiencedthatinvoluntarystagnationofthebloodwhichfollowsaninnershock。Hefeltthathehadbeenrecognised。Themoonlightlayfulluponhisface,andtheotherhadseenandknownhim。Else,whytheconstrainedattitudeandsuddenrigidityobservableinthisconfrontingfigure,withitspartiallyliftedhand?AmanlikeBrothersonmakesnopauseinanyactionhowevertrivial,withoutareason。Eitherhehadbeentransfixedbythisglimpseofhisenemyonwatch,ordaringthought!
hadseenenoughofsepulchralsuggestioninthewanfacelookingforthfromthisfatalwindowtoshakehimfromhiscomposureandletloosethegrinningdevilofremorsefromitsironprison-house?
Ifso,themovementwasamemorableone,andthehazardquiteworthwhile。Hehadgained-no!hehadgainednothing。Hehadbeenthefoolofhisownwishes。Noone,letaloneBrotherson,couldhavemistakenhisfaceforthatofawoman。Hehadforgottenhisnewly-grownbeard。Someothercausemustbefoundfortheother’sattitude。Itsavouredofshock,ifnotfear。Ifitwerefear,thenhadherousedanemotionwhichmightrebounduponhimselfinsharpreprisal。Deathhadbeenknowntostrikepeoplestandingwherehestood;mysteriousdeathofaspeciesquiteunrecognisable。
Whatwarrantyhadhethatitwouldnotstrikehim,andnow?None。
YetitwasBrothersonwhomovedfirst。Withashrugoftheshoulderplainlyvisibletothemanopposite,heturnedawayfromthewindowandwithoutloweringtheshadebegangatheringuphispapersforthenight,andlaterbankinguphisstovewithashes。
Sweetwater,withabreathofdecidedrelief,steppedbackandthrewhimselfonthebed。Ithadreallybeenatrialforhimtostandthereundertheother’seye,thoughhismindrefusedtoformulatehisfear,ortogivehimanysatisfactionwhenheaskedhimselfwhattherewasinthesituationsuggestiveofdeathtothewomanorharmtohimself。
Nordidmorninglightbringcounsel,asisusualinsimilarcases。
Hefeltthemysterymoreinthehubbubandrestlessturmoilofthedaythaninthenight’ssilenceandinactivity。Hewasgladwhenthestrokeofsixgavehimanexcusetoleavetheroom,andgladderyetwhenindoingso,heranuponanoldwomanfromaneighbouringroom,whonosoonersawhimthansheleeredathimandeagerlyremarked:”Notmuchsleep,eh?Wedidn’tthinkyou’dlikeit。Didyouseeanything?”
Nowthisgavehimtheoneexcusehewanted。”Seeanything?”herepeated,apparentlywithallimaginableinnocence。”Whatdoyoumeanbythat?””Don’tyouknowwhathappenedinthatroom?””Don’ttellme!”heshoutedout。”Idon’twanttohearanynonsense。Ihaven’ttime。I’vegottobeattheshopatsevenandIdon’tfeelverywell。Whatdidhappen?”hemumbledindrawingoff,justloudenoughforthewomantohear。”SomethingunpleasantI’msure。”Thenherandownstairs。
Athalfpastsixhefoundthejanitor。Hewas,toallappearance,inastateofgreatexcitementandhespokeveryfast。”Iwon’tstayanothernightinthatroom,”heloudlydeclared,breakinginwherethefamilywereeatingbreakfastbylamplight。”I
don’twanttomakeanytroubleandIdon’twanttogivemyreasons;
butthatroomdon’tsuitme。I’drathertakethedarkoneyoutalkedaboutyesterday。There’sthemoney。Havemythingsmovedto-day,willye?””Butyourmovingoutafteronenight’sstaywillgivethatroomabadname,”stammeredthejanitor,risingawkwardly。”There’llbetalkandIwon’tbeabletoletthatroomallwinter。””Nonsense!Everymanhasn’tthenervesIhave。You’llletitinaweek。Butletornotlet,I’mgoingfrontintothelittledarkroom。I’llgetthebosstoletmeoffathalfpastfour。Sothat’ssettled。”
Hewaitedfornoreplyandgotnone;butwhenheappearedpromptlyataquartertofive,hefoundhisfewbelongingsmovedintoamiddleroomonthefourthfloorofthefrontbuilding,which,oddlyperhaps,chancedtobenextdoortotheonehehadheldunderwatchthenightbefore。
ThefirstpageofhisadventureintheHicksStreettenementhadbeenturned,andhewasreadytostartuponanother。
INWHICHABOOKPLAYSALEADINGPART
WhenMr。Brothersoncameinthatnight,henoticedthatthedooroftheroomadjoininghisownstoodopen。Hedidnothesitate。
Makingimmediatelyforit,hetookaglanceinside,thenspokeupwitharingingintonation:”Halloo!comingtoliveinthishole?”
Theoccupantayoungman,evidentlyaworkmanandsomewhatsicklyifonecouldjudgefromhiscomplexion-turnedaroundfromsometinkeringhewasengagedinandmettheintruderfairly,facetoface。Ifhisjawfell,itseemedtobefromadmiration。Nootheremotionwouldhavesolightedhiseyeashetookintheothersproportionsandcommandingfeatures。Nodress-Brothersonwasneverseeninanyotherthanthehomeliestgarbinthesedays-couldmakehimlookcommonorakintohissurroundings。Whetherseennearorfar,hispresencealwayscausedsurprise,andsurprisewaswhattheyoungmanshowed,asheansweredbriskly:”Yes,thisistobemycastle。Areyoutheownerofthebuildings?
Ifso-””Iamnottheowner。Ilivenextdoor。Haven’tIseenyoubefore,youngman?”
NeverwasthereamorepenetratingeyethanOrlandoBrotherson’s。
Asheaskedthisquestionittooksomeeffortonthepartoftheothertoholdhisownandlaughwithperfectnaturalnessashereplied:”IfyouevergoupHenryStreetit’slikelyenoughthatyou’veseenmenotonce,butmanytimes。I’mthefellowwhoworksatthebenchnextthewindowinSchuper’srepairingshop。Everybodyknowsme。”
Audacityoftencarriesthedaywhensubtlermeanswouldfail。
Brothersonstaredattheyouth,thenventuredanotherquestion:”Acarpenter,eh?””Yes,andI’manA1manatmyjob。Excusemybrag。It’smyonecardofintroduction。””I’veseenyou。I’veseenyousomewhereelsethaninSchuper’sshop。
Doyourememberme?””No,sir;I’msorrytobeimperlitebutIdon’trememberyouatall。
Won’tyousitdown?It’snotverycheerful,butI’msogladtogetoutoftheroomIwasinlastnightthatthislooksallrighttome。Backthere,otherbuilding,”hewhispered。”Ididn’tknow,andtooktheroomwhichhadawindowinit;but-”Thestopwassignificant;sowashissmilewhichhadatouchofsicklinessinit,aswellashumour。
ButBrothersonwasnottobecaught。”Yousleptinthebuildinglastnight?Intheotherhalf,Imean?””Yes,I-slept。”
Thestronglipoftheothermancurleddisdainfully。”Isawyou,”saidhe。”Youwerestandinginthewindowoverlookingthecourt。Youwerenotsleepingthen。Isupposeyouknowthatawomandiedinthatroom?””Yes;theytoldmesothismorning。””Wasthatthefirstyou’dheardofit?””Sure!”Thewordalmostjumpedatthequestioner。”DoyousupposeI’dhavetakentheroomif-”
Butheretheintruder,withadisdainfulgrunt,turnedandwentout,disgustineveryfeature,-plain,unmistakable,downrightdisgust,andnothingmore!
ThiswaswhatgaveSweetwaterhissecondbadnight;thisandacertaindiscoveryhemade。Hehadcountedonhearingwhatwentonintheneighbouringroomthroughthepartitionrunningbackofhisowncloset。Buthecouldhearnothing,unlessitwastheshuttingdownofawindow,aloudsneeze,ortherattlingofcoalsastheywereputonthefire。Andthesepossessednosignificance。
Whathewantedwastocatchthesecretsigh,themutteredword,theinvoluntarymovement。Hewastoofarremovedfromthismanstill。
Howshouldhemanagetogetnearerhim-atthedoorofhismind-ofhisheart?Sweetwaterstaredallnightfromhismiserablecotintothedarknessofthatseparatingcloset,andwithnoresult。Histasklookedhopeless;nowonderthathecouldgetnorest。
Nextmorninghefeltill,butheroseallthesame,andtriedtogethisownbreakfast。Hehadbutpartiallysucceededandwassittingontheedgeofhisbedinwretcheddiscomfort,whentheverymanhewasthinkingofappearedathisdoor。”I’vecometoseehowyouare,”saidBrotherson。”Inoticedthatyoudidnotlookwelllastnight。Won’tyoucomeinandsharemypotofcoffee?”