nts, after a grunt of disappointment, turned and went
away; though there were a few, either unable to read the message or so
pressed by anxiety that they disregarded it, who entered the room and
sat down to wait for the absentee. [There were plenty of chairs in the
office now, bookcases also, and a big steel safe.] But when evening
came and the final gray of twilight had vanished from the window-panes,
all had gone except one, a woman who sat patiently, her eyes upon the
floor, and her hands folded in her lap, until the footsteps of the last
of the others to depart had ceased to sound upon the pavement below.
Then, with a wordless exclamation, she sprang to her feet, pulled the
window-shade carefully down to the sill, and, when she had done that,
struck a match on the heel of her shoe--a soiled white canvas shoe, not
a small one--and applied the flame to a gas jet. The yellow light
flared up; and she began to pace the room haggardly.

The court-house bell rang nine, and as the tremors following the last
stroke pulsed themselves into silence, she heard a footfall on the
stairs and immediately relapsed into a chair, folding her hands again
in her lap, her expression composing itself to passivity, for the step
was very much lighter than Joe's.

A lady beautifully dressed in white dimity appeared in the doorway.
She hesitated at the threshold, not, apparently, because of any
timidity (her expression being too thoughtfully assured for that), but
almost immediately she came in and seated herself near the desk,
acknowledging the other's presence by a slight inclination of the head.

This grave courtesy caused a strong, deep flush to spread itself under
the rouge which unevenly covered the woman's cheeks, as she bowed
elaborately in return. Then, furtively, during a protracted silence,
she took stock of the new-comer, from the tip of her white suede shoes
to the filmy lace and pink roses upon her wide white hat; and the
sidelong gaze lingered marvellingly upon the quiet, delicate hands,
slender and finely expressive, in their white gloves.

Her own hands, unlike the lady's, began to fidget confusedly, and, the
silence continuing, she coughed several times, to effect the preface
required by her sense of fitness, before she felt it proper to observe,
with a polite titter:

"Mr. Louden seems to be a good while comin'."

"Have you been waiting very long?" asked the lady.

"Ever since six o'clock!"

"Yes," said the other