"I'll tell you what it is, Corkins," said the Madam, turning fiercely in her chair, "I wish the devil had you,—I do! Sittin' there in your chair, croakin' like a raven.—'What! Why!'" and she mimicked him wickedly; "when you should be doin' somethin' to stave off the trouble that's gatherin' round us. Now you know, that unless we get back the Red Book, we're ruined,—you know it?"
"Com-pletely ruined!" echoed Corkins, who sat in the background, on the edge of a chair, his elbows on his knees, and his chin on his hands. Corkins, you will remember, is a little, slender man, clad in black, with a white cravat about his neck, a top-knot on his low forehead, a "goatee" on his chin, and gold spectacles on his nose. And as Corkins sits on the edge of his chair, he looks very much like a strange bird on its perch,—a bird of evil omen, meditating all sorts of calamities sure to happen to quite a number of people, at some time not definitely ascertained.
"It's near ten o'clock," glancing at the gold watch which lay on the table before her, "and no word of Barnhurst, not even a hint of Dirk or Slung! And at ten, that villain who stole the book will come back,—that is, unless Dirk and Slung have taken care of him! I never was in such a fever in all my life! Corkins, what is to be done? And your patient,—how is she?"
"As for the patient up-stairs," Corkins began, but the words died away on his lips.
The sound of a bell rang clearly, although gloomily throughout the mansion.
"Go to the front door,—quick!"—in her impatience the Madam bounded from her chair. "See who's there. Open the door, but don't undo the chain; and don't,—do you hear?—don't let anybody in until you hear from me! Quick, I say!"
"But it isn't the front door bell," hesitated Corkins.
Again the sound of the bell was heard.
"It's the bell of the secret passage," ejaculated Madam, changing color,—"the passage which leads to a back street, and of the existence of which, only four persons in the world know anything. There it goes again! who can it be?"
The Madam was evidently very much perplexed. Corkins, who had risen from his perch, stood as though rooted to the floor; and the bell pealed loud and louder, in dismal echoes throughout the mansion.