Page:O'Higgins--The Adventures of Detective Barney.djvu/301

 was evidently busy in the kitchen; he could hear an occasional clatter of plates. Between him and the lighted window, the whole house was dark, but he did not know who might be watching him from that darkness, so he kept his eyes off it, and settled himself wearily in the easy chair, and put his head back against the cushioned head-rest, and showed no interest in anything.

They found him apparently asleep there, when they came back—the woman with a tray of food, the man with a green-shaded reading lamp. The light woke Barney. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. They placed a porch table before him and arranged on it the tray and the lamp.

“Pretty tired, eh?” the man said.

Barney nodded, his eyes on the food. He reached a slice of buttered bread before the tray was on the table, and proceeded to “wolf” it. He did not look at his hosts. The lamp on the table shone full on him, and left them in obscurity. He pretended to be hungrily