[Illustration: "And seein' a light in the room, I looked in.">[
"And you saw Tim and Mary," said I.
"I should say I did," said Perry, "till I slipped away. But says I to myself, 'It must be nice not to be disappointed.'"
"You said you saw Tim and Mary," said I, a trifle angrily.
"I should say I did," Perry answered, chuckling and rocking again on his feet. "The two of 'em, standin' there in the lamplight by the table, him a-lookin' down like he was dyin', her a-lookin' up like she was dyin' and holdin' on to him like he was all there was left for her in the world. It made me swaller, Mark, it made me swaller."
There was a lump in Perry's throat at that moment, and he stopped his rocking and turned to the fire, so his back was toward me.
"Of course you knocked," said I, after a silence.
"Of course I didn't," he snapped. "Do you suppose I was wanted then? 'No, sir,' I says, 'for them there is only two people in all the world—there's Tim and there's Mary.'"
Perry was putting on his overcoat, winding his long comforter about his neck and drawing on his mittens.