Did he see only the opposite wall and that unillumined window?  Was there no memory of the time when, in a previous contemplation of those dismal panes, he beheld stretching between them and himself, a long, low bench with a plain wooden tub upon it, from which a dripping cloth beat out upon the boards beneath a dismal note, monotonous as the ticking of a clock?

One might judge that such memories were indeed his, from the rapid glance he cast behind him at the place where the bed had stood in those days.  It was placed differently now.

But if he saw, and if he heard these suggestions from the past, he was not less alive to the exactions of the present, for, as his glance flew back across the court, his finger suddenly moved and the flame it controlled sputtered and went out.  At the same instant, the window opposite sprang into view as the lamp was lit within, and for several minutes the whole interior remained visible —­the books, the work-table, the cluttered furniture, and, most interesting of all, its owner and occupant.  It was upon the latter that the newcomer fixed his attention, and with an absorption equal to that he saw expressed in the countenance opposite.

But his was the absorption of watchfulness; that of the other of introspection.  Mr. Brotherson—­(we will no longer call him Dunn even here where he is known by no other name)—­had entered the room clad in his heavy overcoat and, not having taken it off before lighting his lamp, still stood with it on, gazing eagerly down at the model occupying the place of honour on the large centre table.  He was not touching it,—­not at this moment—­but that his thoughts were with it, that his whole mind was concentrated on it, was evident to the watcher across the court; and, as this watcher took in this fact and noticed the loving care with which the enthusiastic inventor finally put out his finger to re-arrange a thread or twirl a wheel, his disappointment found utterance in a sigh which echoed sadly through the dull and cheerless room.  Had he expected this stern and self-contained man to show an open indifference to work and the hopes of a lifetime?  If so, this was the first of the many surprises awaiting him.

He was gifted, however, with the patience of an automaton and continued to watch his fellow tenant as long as the latter’s shade remained up.  When it fell, he rose and took a few steps up and down, but not with the celerity and precision which usually accompanied his movements.  Doubt disturbed his mind and impeded his activity.  He had caught a fair glimpse of Brotherson’s face as he approached the window, and though it continued to show abstraction, it equally displayed serenity and a complete satisfaction with the present if not with the future.  Had he mistaken his man after all?  Was his instinct, for the first time in his active career, wholly at fault?

He had succeeded in getting a glimpse of his quarry in the privacy of his own room, at home with his thoughts and unconscious of any espionage, and how had he found him?  Cheerful, and natural in all his movements.