His head was
very large and partly bald, rearing above his small frame like a
great, bare dome; he carried a silk hat in his hand, and peered
abstractedly through spectacles of remarkable thickness.
"Locke," breathed Pendleton, as his heart paused for a moment and then
went on with a leap.
The little man apparently did not see them until he was almost beside
them; then he paused with a start, and his eyes grew owlish behind the
magnifying lenses as he strove to make them out. That he did not
recognize them seemed to worry him; his thin, gray face seemed to grow
grayer and thinner; with a diffident little bow he passed on and out
at the front door.
"Not a very formidable looking criminal," commented Ashton-Kirk,
quietly. "However, you can seldom judge by appearances. The most
astonishing crime that ever came to my notice was perpetrated by the
meekest and most conventional man I had ever seen."
They waited for still another space, and then the man who had shown
them in presented himself. He was now without the lantern, but wore a
melancholy look.
"Dr. Mercer will see you," said he in a low voice. "He is very much
vexed at being disturbed. He'll remember it against me for weeks." He
appeared very much disturbed.
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