“You mean my uncle, I guess. He’s retired now. Well, Mr. Brunell, shall we get to business?’
“I left them then, and when I came downstairs from my room, the young man had gone. Father was standing in the window over there, with a letter crushed in his hand. He turned when I spoke to him, and, oh, Guy, if you had seen his face at that moment! I almost cried out in fear! It was like one of the terrible, despairing faces in Dante’s description of the Inferno. He looked at me blankly as if he scarcely recognized me; then gradually that awful expression was blotted out, and his old sweet, sunny smile took its place.
“‘Well, little girl!’ he said. ‘Our Sunday together was spoiled, wasn’t it, by that young fellow’s intrusion?’
“‘Not spoiled,’ I replied, ‘if he brought you work.’
“The smile faded from Father’s face, and he responded very gravely, with a curious, halting pause between the words:
“‘Yes. He has brought me––work.’
“I forgot all about that episode, in the weeks and months which followed. Charley Pennold called irregularly. Sometimes he would come three or four times a week, then again we would not see him for two or three months. Father was busier than ever in the shop, and, Charley Pennold’s orders must have been very profitable, for we’ve had more money in the last two years than ever before, that I can remember. And yet Father has been melancholy and morose at times, as if he were brooding over something, and his disposition has changed steadily for the worse, although in the last few months the difference in his moods has become more marked. Then, when that letter came he seemed to give himself wholly up to whatever it is which has obsessed him.”
“Emily, will you let me see the letter again?” Morrow asked suddenly. “If you really care for me, and will be my wife some day, your troubles and vexations are mine. I want you to let me take the letter home with me to-night. I feel that if I can study it for a few hours undisturbed, I shall be able to read the cipher. I’ll promise, dear, to bring it back the very first thing in the morning.”
“Of course, you may have it, Guy!” The young girl rose impulsively, and went to the little desk in the corner. “I hid it last night after you had gone, among some old receipts; here it is. You need not return it to-morrow. Keep it for several days, if you like, until 167 you have studied it thoroughly. I don’t see how you or any one could solve it without possessing the key, but I should feel as if a load were taken off my shoulders if you will try.”