What a blissful thing the lack of prescience is, sometimes!
When James had scraped the soot from his face and neck and hands, and
had sudsed it from his hair, James observed, with some concern, that
Pirate was coughing at a great rate. His fierce run against the wind
the day before had given him a cold. So James hunted about for the
handy veterinarian.
"Where do you keep your books here?" he asked William. "Pirate's got a
cold."
"In the house library. You just go in and get it. We always do that at
home. You'll find it on the lower shelf, to the right as you enter the
door."
It was half after four when James, having taken a final look at his
hands and nails, proceeded to follow William's instructions. He found
no one about. Outside the kitchen the lower part of the house was
deserted. To reach the library he had to pass through the music-room.
He saw the violin-case on the piano, and at once unconsciously pursed
his lips into a noiseless whistle. He passed on into the library. He
had never been in any of these rooms in the daytime. It was not very
light, even now.
The first thing that caught his attention was a movable drawing-board,
on which lay an uncompleted drawing. At one side stood a glass, into
which were thrust numerous pens and brushes. Near this lay a small ball
of crumpled cambric, such as women insist upon carrying in their
street-car purses, a delicate, dainty, useless thing. So she drew
pictures, too, he thought. Was there anything this beautiful creature
could not do? Everything seemed to suggest her presence. An indefinable
feminine perfume still lingered on the air, speaking eloquently of her.
Curiosity impelled him to step forward and examine her work. He
approached with all the stealth of a gentlemanly burglar. He expected
to see some trees and hills and mayhap a brook, or some cows standing
in a stream, or some children picking daisies. He had a sister, and was
reasonably familiar with the kind of subjects chosen by the
lady-amateur.
A fortification plan!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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