dismal note, monotonous as the ticking of a
clock?

One might judge that such memories were indeed his, from the rapid
glance he cast behind him at the place where the bed had stood in those
days. It was placed differently now.

But if he saw, and if he heard these suggestions from the past, he was
not less alive to the exactions of the present, for, as his glance
flew back across the court, his finger suddenly moved and the flame
it controlled sputtered and went out. At the same instant, the window
opposite sprang into view as the lamp was lit within, and for several
minutes the whole interior remained visible--the books, the work-table,
the cluttered furniture, and, most interesting of all, its owner and
occupant. It was upon the latter that the newcomer fixed his attention,
and with an absorption equal to that he saw expressed in the countenance
opposite.

But his was the absorption of watchfulness; that of the other of
introspection. Mr. Brotherson--(we will no longer call him Dunn even
here where he is known by no other name)--had entered the room clad
in his heavy overcoat and, not having taken it off before lighting his
lamp, still stood with it on, gazing eagerly down at the model occupying
the place of honour on the large centre table. He was not touching
it,--not at this moment--but that his thoughts were with it, that his
whole mind was concentrated on it, was evident to the watcher across
the court; and, as this watcher took in this fact and noticed the loving
care with which the enthusiastic inventor finally put out his finger to
re-arrange a thread or twirl a wheel, his disappointment found utterance
in a sigh which echoed sadly through the dull and cheerless room. Had he
expected this stern and self-contained man to show an open indifference
to work and the hopes of a lifetime? If so, this was the first of the
many surprises awaiting him.

He was gifted, however, with the patience of an automaton and continued
to watch his fellow tenant as long as the latter's shade remained up.
When it fell, he rose and took a few steps up and down, but not with the
celerity and precision which usually accompanied his movements. Doubt
disturbed his mind and impeded his activity. He had caught a fair
glimpse of Brotherson's face as he approached the window, and though
it continued to show abstraction, it equally displayed serenity and a
complete satisfaction with the present if not with the future. Had he
mistaken hi