"Aunt Julia," he said aloud, severely, "we must now go through the house
from top to bottom and make a thorough search."
The echoes of his voice died away slowly all over the building, and in
the intense silence that followed he turned to look at her. In the
candle-light he saw that her face was already ghastly pale; but she
dropped his arm for a moment and said in a whisper, stepping close in
front of him--
"I agree. We must be sure there's no one hiding. That's the first
thing."
She spoke with evident effort, and he looked at her with admiration.
"You feel quite sure of yourself? It's not too late--"
"I think so," she whispered, her eyes shifting nervously toward the
shadows behind. "Quite sure, only one thing--"
"What's that?"
"You must never leave me alone for an instant."
"As long as you understand that any sound or appearance must be
investigated at once, for to hesitate means to admit fear. That is
fatal."
"Agreed," she said, a little shakily, after a moment's hesitation. "I'll
try--"
Arm in arm, Shorthouse holding the dripping candle and the stick, while
his aunt carried the cloak over her shoulders, figures of utter comedy
to all but themselves, they began a systematic search.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25