But
she went on. Where the fence turned, she turned, there being no
obstruction to her doing so. This brought her into a wilderness of
tangled grasses where free stepping was difficult. As she groped
her way along, she had ample opportunity to hear again the
intermittent sounds of the hammer, and to note that they reached
their maximum at a point where the ell of the judge's study
approached the fences.
Rat-tat-tat; rat-tat-tat. She hated the sound even while she
whispered to herself:
"It is just some household matter he is at work upon;--rehanging
pictures or putting up shelves. It can be nothing else."
Yet on laying her ear to the fence, she felt her sinister fears
return; and, with shrinking glances into a darkness which told her
nothing, she added in fearful murmur to herself:
"What am I taking Reuther into? I wish I knew. I wish I knew."
BOOK II
THE HOUSE AND THE ROOM
XIII
A BIT OF STEEL
"When are you going to Judge Ostrander's?"
"To-morrow. This is my last free day. So if there is anything for
me to do, do tell me, Mr. Black, and let me get to work at once."
"There is nothing you can do. The matter is hopeless."
"You think so?"
There was misery in the tone, but the seasoned old lawyer, who had
conducted her husband's defence, did not allow his sympathies to
run away with his judgment.
"I certainly do, madam. I told you so the other night, and now,
after a couple of days of thought on the subject, I am obliged to
repeat my assertion.
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