With this, Kate Gorman took the clerk’s arm, and crossing over to a street car, proceeded with him to the theatre.
An hour or two later, the couple stood in front of Mr. Carter’s dwelling again. The crowd had dispersed then, and there seemed little to interest any person in the carriages that crept up to the door, and, taking in a sleepy freight of revelers, moved away. Still Boyce insisted that the sight was one that he would not lose for the world, and kept the weary girl standing there, until Mrs. Smith appeared at the door, and, with fussy attention to her dress, entered the hack that waited for her.
When this carriage drove away, Boyce expressed great willingness to go home; and Kate, who had dropped half asleep, moved away with him, heartily wishing herself in bed.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith drove, in a dreary, fatigued state, toward their home. The occasion had been a proud one; but even that could not make them quite insensible to the late hour, and the discomfort of full dress, when the desire for sleep lay heavy upon both.
When the carriage stopped, Smith let himself out, and waited to see his wife safe on the pavement. Then he gave a heavy blow on the door with his clenched hand, waiting afterward with some impatience for it to be opened.
A full minute went by, and there was no sign of life in the building. Then he gave another impatient blow, and stepped back to see if any one was stirring in the second story.
A dim light shone through the blinds; but it seemed stationary, and no one moved. Then Smith shouted, and, taking up a block of wood, flung it viciously at his own window. Evidently late hours did not agree with him.
At last, the light began to waver, and finally disappeared.
Just then Boyce and Kate Gorman came up, much to the astonishment of their employers.
“Why, Kate Gorman, Jared Boyce! What does this mean?”