Page:Burton Stevenson--The marathon mystery.djvu/137

Rh “Merely that it is a delicate trust. I’m not at all unwilling to undertake it, only”

Again he misunderstood; again he did not wait for me to finish. It was the only weakness I ever detected in him—he made a false step that could never be retraced.

“Only you are flesh and blood, you would say?” and he shot me a smile which illumined as a lightning flash the depths of his character. “On that score, do not worry, I beg of you; I am not of a jealous disposition—I shall not”

A knock at the door interrupted him, or I might have answered in a way that would have wrecked Godfrey’s plan forever. I flung the door open and saw Higgins standing there.

“A call at th’ telephone fer you, Mr. Lester,” he said.

“Excuse me, please,” I called over my shoulder to Tremaine, and strode down the hall after the janitor. So heated was I with anger, so shaken by this sudden revelation, that not till we were in the elevator dropping downward did I remember that Godfrey was in my bedroom. A sudden chill struck through me. Suppose Tremaine should take advantage of the opportunity to examine my rooms; suppose he should discover Godfrey…

It was too late now to avert it; I could not go back, so I went on to the telephone. It was Mr. Royce who wanted me; he had been called suddenly out of town and wished to give me some instructions for the next day. Our conversation lasted perhaps five minutes; then I hung up the receiver and mounted to my rooms.