Page:The time spirit; a romantic tale (IA timespiritromant00snaiiala).pdf/38

 and indulging in suppressed shrieks at the manner of Dugald Maclean's putting out.

An instant later, the young policeman was in the street and the door of Number Five, Beaconsfield Villas, had closed upon him. But his singular exit was merely the prelude to an incident far more amazing.

In the uproar of Joe had been fell design. As soon as it ceased the reason for it grew apparent. An incredible sound was filling the room.

"Whatever's that!" Eliza almost shrieked in sheer wonderment.

Harriet's behavior was different. For a moment she was spellbound. The look in her eyes verged upon horror.

It seemed that a child was crying lustily.

"Wherever can it be!" cried the frantic Eliza.

A wild glance round the room told Eliza that there was only one place in which it could be. Her eyes fell at once on the large wicker basket, which had been set on the floor near the fire.

"Well, in all my born days!"

She rushed to the basket and began furiously to untie the lid. But the maxim "the more haste the less speed" was as true in 1890 as it is today. Eliza's fingers merely served to double and treble knot the string.

Uncannily calm, Harriet rose from the table, the bread knife in her hand. In silence she knelt by the hearth and cut the knot. The deliberation of her movements was in odd contrast to Eliza's frenzy.

The lid was off the basket in a trice. And the sight within further emphasized the diverse bearing of the two women. Harriet rose a statue; Eliza knelt in an