But, in fumbling with the lock of
the gate, I instinctively bent my head, and when I raised it again
the door had partly closed, leaving only a narrow shaft of light.
Whether the young man had re-entered the house, or had left it I
could not tell, but I hastened to open the gate, and as I stepped
forward I found myself upon an asphalt walk. At the same instant
there was the sound of quick steps upon the path, and someone rushed
past me. I called to him, but he made no reply, and I heard the gate
click and the footsteps hurrying away upon the sidewalk.
"Under other circumstances the young man's rudeness, and his
recklessness in dashing so hurriedly through the mist, would have
struck me as peculiar, but everything was so distorted by the fog
that at the moment I did not consider it. The door was still as he
had left it, partly open. I went up the path, and, after much
fumbling, found the knob of the door-bell and gave it a sharp pull.
The bell answered me from a great depth and distance, but no movement
followed from inside the house, and, although I pulled the bell again
and again, I could hear nothing save the dripping of the mist about
me.
Pages:
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265