ng each other's faces for some explanation of this
unlooked-for outbreak, when the door above us suddenly slammed to and we
heard a renewal of that fumbling with lock and key which had first drawn
our attention. But the hand was not sure or the hall was dark, for the
key did not turn in the lock. Suddenly awake to my opportunity, I
wheeled Jupp about and, making use of his knee and back, climbed up till
I was enabled to reach the knob and turn it just as the man within had
stepped back, probably to procure more light.

The result was that the door swung open and I stumbled in, falling
almost face downward on the marble floor faintly checkered off to my
sight in the dim light of a lamp set far back in a bare and dismal hall.
I was on my feet again in an instant and it was in this manner, and with
all the disadvantages of a hatless head and a disordered countenance,
that I encountered again my old employer after five years of absence.

He did not recognize me. I saw it by the look of alarm which crossed his
features and the involuntary opening of his lips in what would certainly
have been a loud cry if I had not smiled and cried out with false
gaiety:

"Excuse me, doctor, I never came in by that door before. Pardon my
awkwardness. The step is somewhat high from the street."

My smile is my own, they say; at all events it served to enlighten him.

"Bob Trevitt," he exclaimed, but with a growl of displeasure I could
hardly condemn under the circumstances.

I hastened to push my advantage, for he was looking very threateningly
toward the door which was swaying gently and in an inviting way to a man
who if old, had more power in his arms than I had in my whole body.

"_Mr._ Trevitt," I corrected; "and on a very important errand. I am here
on behalf of Mrs. Ocumpaugh, whose child you have at this moment under
your roof."

VI

DOCTOR POOL

It was a direct attack and for a minute I doubted if I had not made a
mistake in making it so suddenly and without gloves. His face purpled,
the veins on his forehead started out, his great form shook with an ire
that in such domineering natures as his can only find relief in a blow.
But the right hand did not rise nor the heavy fist fall. With admirable
self-restraint he faced me for a moment, without attempting either
protest or denial. Then his blazing eyes cooled down, and with a sudden
gesture which at once relaxed his extreme tension of nerve and muscle,
he pointed t