.. Scalchi"; a water colour drawing by Jan
Beers; and a Victorian lithograph in powdery foliage and brick of _The
Penny Rolling Mills. Jaffa_. A black-blue rug, from Myrtle Forge, partly
covered the broad, oak boards of the floor; and there was a comfortable
variety of chairs--sturdy, painted Dutch, winged Windsors and a slatted
Hunterstown rocker.
Howat Penny's gaze wandered over the familiar furnishing, come to him
surviving the generations of his family, or carefully procured for his
individual dictates. A sense of tranquillity, of haven, deepened about
him. "Rudolph," he inquired, "has Honduras gone for Miss Jannan?"
The man stopped in the doorway, answering in the affirmative. He was
slight, almost fragile, with close, dark hair that stood up across his
forehead, and dry, high-coloured cheeks. Rudolph hesitated, with a
handful of silver; and then returned to his task. Mariana would be
along immediately, Howat Penny thought. He put the album aside and rose,
moving toward the door that led without. He was a slender, erect figure,
with little to indicate his age except the almost complete silvering of
his hair--it had, evidently, been black--and a rigidity of body only
apparent to a sharp scrutiny.
A porch followed that length of the house, and doubled the end, where he
stood peering into the gathering dusk.
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