CHAPTER VIII
END AND BEGINNING
I
"Mrs. Tams!" said Mrs. Maldon, in a low, alarmed, and urgent voice.
The gas was turned down in the bedroom, and Mrs. Maldon, looking from
her bed across the chamber, could only just distinguish the stout,
vague form of the charwoman asleep in an arm-chair. The light from
the street lamp was strong enough to throw faint shadows of the
window-frames on the blinds. The sleeper did not stir.
Mrs. Maldon summoned again, more loudly--
"Mrs. Tams!"
And Mrs. Tams, starting out of another world, replied with
deprecation--
"Hey, hey!" as if saying: "I am here. I am fully awake and observant.
Please remain calm."
Mrs. Maldon said agitatedly--
"I've just heard the front door open. I'm sure whoever it was was
trying not to make a noise. There! Can't you hear anything?"
"That I canna'!" said Mrs. Tams.
"No!" Mrs. Maldon protested, as Mrs. Tams approached the gas to raise
it. "Don't touch the gas. If anybody's got in let them think we're
asleep."
The mystery of the vanished money and the fear of assassins seemed
suddenly to oppress the very air of the room. Mrs. Maldon was leaning
on one elbow in her bed.
Mrs. Tams said to her in a whisper--
"I mun go see.
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