It was only by degrees Holder came to understand that no question would be asked, and the frequency of his visits to Dalton Street increased.  He directed his steps thither sometimes hurriedly, as though pursued, as to a haven from a storm.  And a haven it was indeed!  At all hours of the day he came, and oftener in the night, in those first weeks, and if Mr. Bentley were not at home the very sight of the hospitable old darky brought surging up within him a sense of security, of, relief; the library itself was filled with the peace of its owner.  How many others had brought their troubles here, had been lightened on the very threshold of this sanctuary!

Gradually Hodder began to realize something of their numbers.  Gradually, as he was drawn more and more into the network of the relationships of this extraordinary man,—­nay, as he inevitably became a part of that network,—­a period of bewilderment ensued.  He found himself involved, and quite naturally, in unpremeditated activities, running errands, forming human ties on a human basis.  No question was asked, no credentials demanded or rejected.  Who he was made no difference —­he was a friend of Horace Bentley’s.  He had less time to read, less time to think, to scan the veil of his future.

He had run through a score of volumes, critical, philosophical, scientific, absorbing their contents, eagerly anticipating their conclusions; filled, once he had begun, with a mania to destroy, a savage determination to leave nothing,—­to level all . . . .

And now, save for the less frequent relapsing moods, he had grown strangely unconcerned about his future, content to live in the presence of this man; to ignore completely the aspects of a life incomprehensible to the few, besides Mr. Bentley, who observed it.

What he now mostly felt was relief, if not a faint self-congratulation that he had had the courage to go through with it, to know the worst.  And he was conscious even, at times, of a faint reviving sense of freedom he had not known since the days at Bremerton.  If the old dogmas were false, why should he regret them?  He began to see that, once he had suspected their falsity, not to have investigated were to invite decay; and he pictured himself growing more unctuous, apologetic, plausible.  He had, at any rate, escaped the more despicable fate, and if he went to pieces now it would be as a man, looking the facts in the face,—­not as a coward and a hypocrite.

Late one afternoon, when he dropped in at Mr. Bentley’s house, he was informed by Sam that a lady was awaiting Mr. Bentley in the library.  As Hodder opened the door he saw a tall, slim figure of a woman with her back toward him.  She was looking at the photographs on the mantel.

It was Alison Parr!

He remembered now that she had asked for Mr. Bentley’s number, but it had never occurred to him that he might one day find her here.  And as she turned he surprised in her eyes a shyness he had never seen in them before.  Thus they stood gazing at each other a moment before either spoke.