What could it mean? Could there be some one within these silent walls
who was _ill_, helpless, in need of aid?
"I think," declared Margaret firmly, "that it is our duty to look. . . ."
In after days she always absolved herself from any charge of curiosity
in this decision, and declared that her action was dictated solely by a
feeling of duty; but her hearers had their doubts. Be that as it might,
the decision fell in well with Peg's wishes, and the two girls walked
slowly down the passage, repeating from time to time the cry "Is any one
there?" the while their eyes busily scanned all they could see, and drew
Sherlock Holmes conclusions therefrom.
[Sidenote: What the Girls found]
The house belonged to a couple who had a great many children and very
little money. There was a cupboard beneath the stairs filled with shabby
little boots; there was a hat-rack in the hall covered with shabby
little caps. They were people of education and culture, for there were
books in profusion, and the few pictures on the walls showed an artistic
taste; they were tidy people also, for everything was in order, and a
peep into the firelit room on the right showed the table set ready for
the Christmas meal. It was like wandering through the enchanted empty
palaces of the dear old fairy-tales, except that it was not a palace at
all, and the banquet spread out on the darned white cloth was of so
meagre a description, that at the sight the beholders flushed with a
shamed surprise.
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