Mrs. Maldon muttered—­

“The key?  What key?”

“Th’ latch-key belike.”

“I must speak to Miss Rachel,” breathed Mrs. Maldon in a voice of extreme and painful apprehension.

The front door closing sent a vibration through the bedroom.  Mrs. Tarns hesitated an instant, and then raised the gas.  Mrs. Maldon lay with shut eyes on her left side and gave no sign of consciousness.  Light footsteps could be heard on the stairs.

“I’ll go see,” said Mrs. Tams.

In the heart of the aged woman exanimate on the bed, and in the heart of the aging woman whose stout, coarse arm was still raised to the gas-tap, were the same sentiments of wonder, envy, and pity, aroused by the enigmatic actions of a younger generation going its perilous, instinctive ways to keep the race alive.

Mrs. Tarns lighted a benzolene hand-lamp at the gas, and silently left the bedroom.  She still somewhat feared an unlawful invader, but the arrival of Rachel had reassured her.  Preceded by the waving little flame, she passed Rachel’s door, which was closed, and went downstairs.  Every mysterious room on the ground floor was in order and empty.  No sign of an invasion.  Through the window of the kitchen she saw the fresh cutlets under a wire cover in the scullery; and on the kitchen table were the tin of pineapple and the tin of cocoa, with the reticule near by.  All doors that ought to be fastened were fastened.  She remounted the stairs and blew out the lamp on the threshold of the mistress’s bedroom.  And as she did so she could hear Rachel winding up her alarm-clock in quick jerks, and the light shone bright like a silver rod under Rachel’s door.

“Her’s gone reet to bed,” said Mrs. Tams softly, by the bedside of Mrs. Maldon.  “Ye’ve no cause for to worrit yerself.  I’ve looked over th’ house.”

Mrs. Maldon was fast asleep.

Mrs. Tams lowered the gas and resumed her chair, and the street lamp once more threw the shadows of the window-frames on the blinds.

II

The next day Mrs. Tams, who had been appointed to sleep in the spare room, had to exist under the blight of Rachel’s chill disapproval because she had not slept in the spare room—­nor in any bed at all.  The arrangement had been that Mrs. Tams should retire at 4 a.m., Rachel taking her place with Mrs. Maldon.  Mrs. Tams had not retired at 4 a.m. because Rachel had not taken her place.

As a fact, Rachel had been wakened by a bang of the front door, at 10.30 a.m. only.  Her first glance at the alarm-clock on her dressing-table was incredulous.  And she refused absolutely to believe that the hour was so late.  Yet the alarm-clock was giving its usual sturdy, noisy tick, and the sun was high.  Then she refused to believe that the alarm had gone off, and in order to remain firm in her belief she refrained from any testing of the mechanism, which