protective tenderness for her, and indignation on her behalf. It did not
occur to him as being love. Still the image of her wonderful mother
dominated him. But his mind dwelt upon the girl. He thought of a piazza
whose roof opened as he knew upon Clemency's room. He wondered if a man
like that would stick at anything. Then he recalled what Doctor Gordon
had said about Clemency's not being in any bodily danger, and again he
speculated. The room began to grow pale with the late winter dawn.
Familiar objects began to gain clearness of outline. There were two
windows in James's room. They gave upon the piazza. Suddenly James made
a leap from his bed. He sprang to one of the windows. Flattened against
it was the face of the man. But the face was so destitute of
consciousness of him, that James doubted if he saw rightly. The wide
eyes seemed to gaze upon him without seeing him, the mouth smiled as if
at something within. The next moment James was sure that the face was
not there. He drew on his trousers, thrust his feet into his shoes, and
was out of his room and the house, and on the piazza. It was still
snowing, but the dawn was overcoming the storm. The whole world was lit
with dead white pallor like the face of a corpse. James rushed the
length of the piazza. He looked at the walk leading to it. He thought he
could distinguish footprints. He looked on the piazza, but the wind,
being on the other side of the house, there was not enough snow there to
make footprints visible. The snow on the walk was drifted. He looked at
it closely, and made sure of deep marks. He stood for a moment undecided
what to do. He disliked to arouse Doctor Gordon. He was afraid of
awakening Mrs. Ewing, if he ventured into the upper part of the house.
Then he thought of the man Aaron who slept in a room over the stable. He
reëntered the house, locked the front door, went softly into the
doctor's study, and out of the door which was near the stable. Then he
made a hard snowball, and threw it at Aaron's window. The window opened
directly, and Aaron's head appeared. James could see, even in the dim