Page:Harold Macgrath--The girl in his house.djvu/44

 "Perhaps. Great world over there; fascinating."

"But where will you put up here? You've sold the old house. Jim, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard the news last April. To sell the house wasn't so much, considering you never intended to return; but to sell it furnished, with all those treasures your mother and father had so much fun in collecting! I couldn't quite understand that." Burlingham shook his head.

"Nor I," added his wife.

Armitage, despite the fact that the room was warm, sensed something like a cold finger running up and down his spine. "I suppose it did seem callous to you two. But, honestly, I never expected to come back again. How much does rumor say I got for it?" He dared not look at them.

"Eighty thousand."

"That's a tidy sum. I say, what sort of people are they?"

"We've met only the daughter," said Betty, "And, Jimmie Armitage, she's the loveliest creature I ever saw. Odd, unusual; in all my life I've never met any