“Is Mr. Powers in?” inquired a lady’s voice, at North 10th street, No. 1,485.
“Not at present,” was the reply. “But we expect him every minute. He does not leave the store till after five o’clock.”
“In what store is he engaged?” asked the lady.
“Please step into the parlor, miss. He will soon be here.”
The visitor seated herself in the small, but neatly-furnished parlor.
“Brown & Felger. That is next door to Mr. Leonard’s,” she said, in an undertone. “Does that indicate anything?”
Her soliloquy was interrupted by the opening of the front door, and after several minutes by the entrance of a gentleman to the parlor.
He was a tall, rather portly man, with black whiskers, and a restless, shifting look in his eyes that impressed his visitor unpleasantly.
“That is my name,” he replied. “Whom have I the honor to meet?”
“Yes, sir. May I ask how you have learned my name?”
“I have heard of you,” he said, with some hesitation. “You are engaged to Mr. Elkton.”
“You have not been to see him in his present misfortune. He wrote to you, but his letter failed to reach you. I thought I would call and request you to visit him.”
“Why, Miss Arlington,” he said, confusedly. “I have really been too busy. I have felt for him in his misfortune, for John is really an excellent man. I am sorry for him.”
“Of this unpleasant difficulty. I cannot believe that he is guilty of the charge against him.”
“You should take the time to call on him, sir, if you have not lost your friendship for him.”
“The fact is,” said Mr. Powers, “the visiting hours at the prison come in my busiest time.”
“Oh, yes! In a measure. I had much respect for John. For his part he would persist in feeling grateful to me.”
“Yes. You had rendered him a service,” she said, assuming a knowledge which she did not possess.
“Not much,” he said quietly. “No doubt, though, he had reason to view it strongly. I saved his life by pulling him from the river. It was easy enough for me to do, but he seemed to think it the greatest favor.”
“I begin to see through John’s action now,” she said to herself. “The gratitude of an honorable man is a strong feeling. Has he allowed it to make him take the place of a guilty man?”
“I would very much like to call on John,” he said. “And will if I can spare the time.”