|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 42
He sat smoking, the dog's head on his knee. There was not a sound to be
heard in the house. Emma, the maid, had gone away to visit a sick
sister. She might not be back that night. So there was absolute silence,
even in the kitchen. Suddenly the dog lifted his head and listened to
something which Gordon could not himself hear. He watched the dog
curiously. The dog gave a low growl of fear and rage, and made for the
office door. He began scratching at the threshold, and emitted a perfect
volley of barks. It did not sound like one dog, but a whole pack.
Gordon, with an impulse which he could not understand, quickly put out
the prism-fringed lamp which hung over his table. Then he sprang to the
dog, and had the dog by the collar. "Be still, Jack," he said in a low
voice, and the dog obeyed instantly, although he was quivering under his
hand. Gordon could feel the muscles run like angry serpents under the
smooth white hair, he felt the crest of rage along his back. But the
animal was so well trained that he barked no more. He only growled very
softly, as if to himself, and quivered.
Gordon ordered him to charge in a whisper, and the dog stretched himself
at his feet, although it was like the crouch of a live wire. Then Gordon
rose and went softly to a window beside the door. The office had very
heavy red curtains. It was impossible, since they were closely drawn,
that a ray of light from within should have been visible outside. Gordon
had reasoned it out quickly when he extinguished the lamp. Whoever was
without would have had no possible means of knowing that anything except
the dog was in the office, but the light once out, Gordon could peep
around the curtain and ascertain, without being himself seen, what or
who was about. He had a premonition of what he should see, and he saw
it. The stable door was almost directly opposite that of the office.
Between the two doors there was a driveway. On this driveway the only
pale thing to be seen in the darkness was the tall, black figure of a
man standing perfectly still, as if watching. His attitude was
unmistakable. The long lines of him, upreared from the pale streak of
the driveway, were as plainly to be read as a sign-post. They signified
watchfulness. His back was toward the office. He stood face toward the
curve of the drive toward the road, where any one entering would first
be seen. Gordon, peeping around his curtain, knew the dark figure as he
would have known his own shadow. In one sense it had been for years his
shadow, and that added to the horror of it. The man behind the curtain
watched, the man in the drive watched; and the dog, crouched at the
threshold of the door, watched with what sublimated sense God alone
knew, which enabled him to know as much as his master, and now and then
came the low growl. Gordon began to formulate a theory in his mind. He
remembered suddenly the man whom Aaron had driven home. He realized that
the watching man might easily have mistaken him for Gordon himself,
going away with his man to make a call upon some patient. He suspected,
with an intensity which became a certainty, that the man knew that
Clemency and Elliot were out and would presently return, and that it was
for them he was watching. All the time he thought of the sick woman
upstairs, and was glad that her room faced on the other side of the
house. He was in agony lest she should be disturbed.
Doctor Gordon was usually a man of resources, but now he did not know
what to do. The dark figure on the park-drive made now and then a
precautionary motion of his right arm as he watched, which was
significant. Gordon knew that he was holding a revolver in readiness. In
the event of Aaron returning alone he would probably be puzzled, and
Gordon thought that he might slip away. In the event of James and
Clemency returning first, Gordon thought that he knew conclusively what
he purposed--a bullet for James, and then away with the girl, unless he
was hindered.
Gordon let the curtain slip back into place, and with a warning gesture
to the dog, who was ready for action, he tiptoed across the room to the
table, in a drawer of which he kept his own revolver. He opened the
drawer softly, and rummaged with careful hands. No revolver was there.
He made sure. He even opened other drawers and rummaged, but the weapon
was certainly missing. He stood undecided for a moment. Then he went
softly out of the room, bidding in a whisper the dog to follow. He crept
upstairs and paused at a closed chamber door. Then he opened it very
carefully. Mrs. Ewing at once spoke. "Is that you, dear?" she said.
"Yes, I wanted to tell you not to be frightened, dear, if you should
hear a shot or the dog bark."
There was a rustling in the dark room. Mrs. Ewing was evidently sitting
up in bed. "Oh, Tom, what is it?" she whispered.
Gordon forced a laugh. "Nothing at all," he replied, "except there's a
fox or something out in the yard, and Jack is wild. I may get a shot at
him. Do you know where my revolver is?"
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|