Page:Arthur Stringer-The Loom of Destiny.djvu/106

The Loom of Destiny thought he ought to share it with Snapsie. The consciousness of having a comrade in the deed was strangely consoling.

But never had the house seemed so full of sounds. At each little noise he started, and his breath came quicker.

Then he heard the voices of Weston and the cook talking together, and later he heard the sound of their feet on the laundry stairs.

He crept half-way down his own stairs, step by step, and then stopped to listen once more. A sudden, terrible silence seemed to hang over the back of the house.

Then, on his toes, he slunk cautiously down to the kitchen. It was quite empty. Then he stole across the bare floor and quietly turned the handle of the pantry door. It creaked startlingly. He waited a minute to listen. Hearing no sound, he swung the door open and stepped into the chamber of mysteries. There, before him, stood the red canister, emblazoned with letters of shining gold. He felt the lid, fearfully. A sudden trembling seized his knees, and his small, talon-like fingers shook visibly as he 94