"
"All right, Walcott," answered the young man, with cheery good
nature, "you are too serious, old man, trot along."
"The poor dear," murmured Mrs. Steuvisant, after Walcott had helped
them to the carriage and turned to go up the steps of the club,--
"The poor dear is hard hit, and men are such funny creatures when
they are hard hit."
Samuel Walcott, as his fate would, went direct to the private
writing-room and opened the door. The lights were not turned on
and in the dark he did not see Mason motionless by the mantel-
shelf. He went quickly across the room to the writing-table,
turned on one of the lights, and, taking the envelope from his
pocket, tore it open. Then he bent down by the light to read the
contents. As his eyes ran over the paper, his jaw fell. The skin
drew away from his cheekbones and his face seemed literally to sink
in. His knees gave way under him and he would have gone down in a
heap had it not been for Mason's long arms that closed around him
and held him up. The human economy is ever mysterious. The moment
the new danger threatened, the latent power of the man as an
animal, hidden away in the centers of intelligence, asserted
itself.
Pages:
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123