The big man had come to a mental state in which he took nothing for granted. His stay at Schwartzberg had been one which shook his confidence in his own judgment; there was nothing his senses told him that he could accept without investigation.
“The good old days when a fellow could take a glance at a thing, and then pass it on, are gone by,” he’d sadly told himself more than once.
“And they may never come again.”
The parcel contained papers, small rolls, each tied with a tape. Carefully the girl undid the fastenings of one of these; slowly the sheets were unrolled and separated. Then, one at a time, they passed under the eye of Miss Knowles; one at a time they were laid aside; and when the little packet was examined, it was re-rolled and tied with the tape once more. Profound was the amazement of Mr. Scanlon, perched upon the ladder outside; he felt almost like rubbing his eyes: he could scarcely believe his senses. For each sheet of the paper was absolutely blank.
Another and still another of the rolls was gone over in a like manner; each blank sheet was studied; each little packet was faithfully re-tied; and when all were done, the girl stood looking down at them thoughtfully. The yellow lamp-light glinted in her hair; her smooth skin looked inexpressibly fair; the pink in her cheeks was like the softly-sunned side of a peach. For a long time she stood without moving; then she assembled the rolls of blank paper and carefully wrapped them as they had been when she received them from Mrs. Kretz. After this she turned off the light, and with the package in her hand she left the room.
Mr. Scanlon stepped down from the ladder, his face a study. Walking the length of the courtyard, his hands in his pockets, his cheeks puffed out like small balloons, he fell once more to pondering. But evidently his cogitations did not bring any enlightenment, for after a while he removed his hands from his pockets and elevated them above his head.
“I’m done,” stated he. “I am completely and absolutely beat. Every minute I spend in this place puts it up to me more and more plainly that I was never meant for anything but elementary purposes. After this I will gaze and not even try to think. I will record like the camera and the phonograph and leave the developing for a professional. I could stand this stuff about the northwest and also the play of the sick man in the moonlight. But when it comes to otherwise competent young ladies displaying intense interest in sheets of blank paper, I’m done!”
And once again Mr. Scanlon had recourse to his tobacco pouch; once again he rolled himself a comforting smoke; and once again he fell into amazement after amazement regarding the things which were going on about him.
CHAPTER XVI
SHOWS HOW THE GREAT SWORD WAS MISSED FROM THE WALL
THE day passed slowly for Scanlon; he put in a few hours with the newspapers, which were always brought to Schwartzberg about noon; then he selected an armful of likely looking books and took them to his room.