[Openfirst-debug] s wore the rapt expre

[Kielman S. <nu...@kn...>]

Ted cold, to take Hilda's arm and hurry out of the great door and down
the steps into the sunlight among the pigeons--to know that the warm and
vital thing within him was still there and had not been snatched away to
flush Caesar's lean cheek or to feed the veins of some bearded Assyrian
king. They in their day had carried the flaming liquor, but to-day was
his! So the song used to run in his head those summer mornings a dozen
years ago. Alexander walked by the place very quietly, as if he were
afraid of waking some one. He crossed Bedford Square and found the
number he was looking for. The house, a comfortable, well-kept place
enough, was dark except for the four front windows on the second floor,
where a low, even light was burning behind the white muslin sash
curtains. Outside there were window boxes, painted white and full of
flowers. Bartley was making a third round of the Square when he heard
the far-flung hoof-beats of a hansom-cab horse, driven rapidly. He
looked at his watch, and was astonished to find that it was a few
minutes after twelve. He turned and walked back along the iron railing
as the cab came up to Hilda's number and stopped. The hansom must have
been one that she employed regularly, for she did not stop to pay the
driver. She stepped out quickly and lightly. He heard her cheerful
"Good-night, cabby," as she ran up the steps and opened the door with a
latchkey. In a few m