"This," he declared, "is our unlucky evening."
3.
The woman who had just laid the cloth for a homely evening meal, smiled
across at the girl who stood at the window.
"It's all ready now directly your uncle comes home," she announced. "Say,
you never seem to tire of looking out of that window."
The girl turned around with a smile. She was very young and dressed in
deep mourning.
"I've never seen anything like it before, Mrs. Malony," she said. "It was
quite quiet where we lived in London, and here, with the street cars and
the elevated railways and the clanging of bells, there never seems to be a
moment's peace."
Mrs. Malony came to the girl's side.
"Your poor uncle looks as though a little peace would do him good," she
remarked.
The girl sighed.
"If only I could do something for him!" she murmured.
"He's in some kind of trouble, I think," Mrs. Malony observed. "He is not
what you might call a communicative person, but it's easy to see that he
is far from being happy in himself. You'll ring when you're ready, Miss
Mary?"
The door was suddenly opened, and Craig entered. He was very pale and a
little out of breath. Before he closed the door, he listened for a moment.
"Just as we were speaking about you, Mr. Craig," the landlady continued.
"I was saying to the young lady that there was only one thing I could wish
for you both, and that was that you weren't quite so worried like."
Craig seemed scarcely to hear her.
"Look across the road," he begged.
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