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Page 31
And Max, puzzled himself by the feelings he had toward this strange
little white-bodied being, went through the outhouse into the open air.
Outside, he found himself staggering, he didn't know why--whether from
the emotions he had experienced or from the clammy, close hair of the
shut-up room; all he knew was that by the time he reached the
public-house, which he had correctly foreseen was to be found at the
corner, he felt quite as much in want of the brandy as his patient
herself.
It occurred to him, as he stood in the bar, swallowing some fiery liquid
of dubious origin which the landlord had sold to him as brandy, to make
a casual inquiry about Mrs. Higgs.
"Yes," said the landlord, "I do know a Mrs. Higgs. She comes in here
sometimes; she likes her glass. But they know more about her at The
Admiral's Arms, Commercial Road way," and he gave a nod of the head to
indicate the direction of that neighborhood.
"Do you know her address?" asked Max.
The landlord smiled.
"It 'ud take a clever head to keep the addresses of all the chance
customers as comes in here. For the matter of that, very few of 'em have
any addresses in particular; it's one court one week, and t'other the
next."
"But she's a very respectable woman, the Mrs. Higgs I mean," said Max,
tentatively.
"Oh, yes, sir; I've nothin' to say ag'inst her," and the landlord, with
a look which showed that he objected to be "pumped," turned to another
customer.
Max took the brandy he had bought for the girl and hurried back to the
place where he had left her. As he went, an instinct of curiosity,
natural enough, considering his recently acquired knowledge, made him go
down the passage and try to look in through the grim, dusty window of
the shop. But this also was boarded up on the inner side, so that no
view could be obtained of what was within.
It seemed to Max, however, as he stood there, with his eyes fixed on the
planks, trying to discover an aperture, that between the cracks of the
boards there glimmered a faint light. It seemed to flicker, then it died
out.
Surely, he thought, the girl has not summoned enough courage to go into
the room by herself?
He hurried back down the passage, and made his way as before to the
wharf. Stumbling round the piles of timber, he found the lane by which
he had entered and left the house. It seemed to him, though he told
himself it must be only fancy, that some of the loose planks had been
disturbed since his last journey over them. Reaching the door of
outhouse, which he had left ajar, he found it shut.
He was now sure that some one had gone in, or come out, since he left;
and for a moment the circumstance seemed to him sufficiently suspicious
to make him pause. The next moment, however, the remembrance of the
girl's white face, of the pleading blue eyes, returned to him vividly,
calling to him, drawing him back by an irresistible spell. He pushed
open the door boldly, crossed the brick floor and reentered the inner
room. The candle was still burning on the table, but the girl was not
there.
Max looked round the room. He was puzzled, suspicious. As he stood by
the table staring at the wall opposite the fireplace, wondering whether
to go out or to explore further, he found his eyes attracted to a spot
in the wall-paper where, in the feeble light, something like two
glittering beads shone out uncannily in the middle of the pattern. With
a curious sensation down his spine, Max took a hasty step back to the
door, and the beads moved slowly.
It was a pair of eyes watching him as he moved.
CHAPTER IX.
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