er a kind of black torrent, upon
which, nevertheless, fled numerous miraculous figures upon bicycles.
She did not know that the towering light at the corner was continuing
its nightly whine.

Suddenly a little boy somersaulted around the corner of the house as
if he had been projected down a flight of stairs by a catapultian
boot. He halted himself in front of the house by dint of a rather
extraordinary evolution with his legs. "Oh, ma," he gasped, "can I go?
Can I, ma?"

She straightened with the coldness of the exterior mother-judgment,
although the hand that held the lamp trembled slightly. "No, Willie;
you had better come to bed."

Instantly he began to buck and fume like a mustang. "Oh, ma," he
cried, contorting himself--"oh, ma, can't I go? Please, ma, can't I
go? Can't I go, ma?"

"It's half-past nine now, Willie."

He ended by wailing out a compromise: "Well, just down to the corner,
ma? Just down to the corner?"

From the avenue came the sound of rushing men who wildly shouted.
Somebody had grappled the bell-rope in the Methodist church, and now
over the town rang this solemn and terrible voice, speaking from the
clouds. Moved from its peaceful business, this bell gained a new
spirit in the portentous night, and it swung the heart to and fro, up
and down, with each peal of it.

"Just down to the corner, ma?"

"Willie, it's half-past nine now."

[Illustration: "They Did Not Care Much for John Shipley"]

VI

The outlines of the house of Dr. Trescott had faded quietly into the
evening, hiding a shape such as we call Queen Anne against the pall of
the blackened sky. The neighborhood was at this time so quiet, and
seemed so devoid of obstructions, that Hannigan's dog thought it a
good opportunity to prowl in forbidden precincts, and so came and
pawed Trescott's lawn, growling, and considering himself a formidable
beast. Later, Peter Washington strolled past the house and whistled,
but there was no dim light shining from Henry's loft, and presently
Peter went his way. The rays from the street, creeping in silvery
waves over the grass, caused the row of shrubs along the drive to
throw a clear, bold shade.

A wisp of smoke came from one of the windows at the end of the house
and drifted quietly into the branches of a cherry-tree. Its companions
followed it in slowly increasing numbers, and finally there was a
current controlled by invisible banks which poured into the
fruit-laden boughs of the che