The woman went on tip-toe a step nearer the door, opened it, and peeped out irresolutely.  But the uncarpeted stairs stretched up into the darkness, unlit except for the glimmer that came from the room at whose door she was standing....

There was a voice now, rising and falling steadily, and she heard it broken in upon now and again by something that resembled a chuckle.  Somehow or another this sickened her more than all else; it was like her husband’s voice.  She recoiled into the room, and, as she did so, there came the sound of blows and the stamping of feet, and she knew, in a way that she could not explain, that there was no fight going on.  It was some kind of punishment, not a conflict....

She would have given the world to move, to run to the street door and scream for help; but her knees shook under her and her heart seemed to be hammering itself to bits.  Jimmie had hold of her now, clinging round her, shaking with terror and murmuring something she could not understand.  Her whole attention was upstairs.  She was wondering how long it would go on.

It must be past midnight now, she thought:  the streets seethed still as death.  But overhead there was still movement and the sound of blows, and then abruptly the end came.

There was one more crescendo of noise—­two voices raised in dispute, one almost shrill, in anger or expostulation; then one more sudden and heavy noise as of a blow or a fall, and dead silence.

(III)

The next thing that Mrs. Partington remembered afterwards was that she found herself standing on the landing upstairs, listening, yet afraid to move.

All was very nearly silent within:  there was just low talking, and the sound of something being moved.  It was her husband’s voice that she heard.

Beyond her the stairs ran up to the next story, and she became aware presently that someone else was watching, too.  An untidy head of a woman leaned over the banisters, and candle-light from somewhere beyond lit up her face.  She was grinning.

* * * * *

Then the sharp whisper came down the stairs demanding what was up.

Mrs. Partington jerked her thumb towards the closed door and nodded reassuringly.  She was aware that she must be natural at all costs.  The woman still hung over the banisters a minute longer and then was gone.

Jimmie was with her too, now, still just in his shirt, perfectly quiet, with a face as white as paper.  His big black eyes dwelt on his mother’s face.

Then suddenly she could bear the suspense no more.  She stole up to the door, still on tip-toe, still listening, and laid her fingers on the handle.  There were more gentle movements within now, the noise of water and a basin (she heard the china clink distinctly), but no more words.

She turned the handle resolutely and looked in.