The rain was falling in torrents, hard driven before the gusty March wind, and turning the gutters into miniature foam-crested freshets when Betty struggled up the steps of the Egyptological Museum, with the completed translation beneath her arm.
The attendant who took possession of her dripping umbrella stared curiously at her unveiled face and his gaze followed her as she ascended to the upper floor, but Betty was oblivious to the interest her presence created. Her thoughts were travelling ahead of her down the corridor to the office numbered nine, and the friendly, laughing-eyed young man who awaited her there.
The hour of her previous visit was the one bright spot in the gloom and mystery which had surrounded her since she made her entrance into Mrs. Atterbury's service, and his protective concern when she had rushed blindly into his arms at that unexpected meeting almost at the gates of her new home, lingered comfortingly in her memory.
As she entered, Herbert Ross rose from behind his desk with extended hand and a beaming smile of welcome.
"You are punctual, Miss Shaw, in spite of the rain. How is the work coming on?"
"It is finished." Betty laid the roll of manuscript upon the desk before him. "I hope that it will prove satisfactory, Mr. Ross."
"You found it difficult?" He spread the papers out, glancing over them rapidly as he spoke.
"No. I have translated almost literally as you can see—But I forgot that you were not an Egyptologist yourself."
"Nevertheless, I am sure this will be an admirable addition to our collection of translated papyri. What sonorous, mouthfilling phrases the old chaps used in those days!" He quoted from her page: "'Hail ye living ones upon earth, ye who pass on the Nile, scribes all, readers and priests of the ka all, this the great Pharaoh and royal Xerxes, triumphant.'—I will place this at once in the hands of the keeper of antiquities."
He pressed a button in the wall beside him, then abruptly swung his chair around until he faced her. His eyes had narrowed slightly and there was no longer a hint of a smile about his firm lips.