and that made him shriek still harder—at last Maud came to me and touched my arm.
''Don''t be afraid,'' she said softly. ''He means only this, look.'' And she showed me how, at my feet, there was set into the dark floorboards, in the space between the doorway and the edge of the carpet, a flat brass hand with a pointing finger.
''Uncle does not care to have servants'' eyes upon his books,'' she said, ''for fear of spoiling them. Uncle asks that no servant advance further into the room than this mark here.''
She placed the toe of her slipper upon the brass. Her face was smooth as wax, her voice like water.
''Does she see it?'' said her uncle.
''Yes '' she answered, drawing back her toe. ''She sees it very well. She will know next time—shan''t you, Susan?''
''Yes, miss,'' I said—hardly knowing what I should say, or how or who I should look at; for it was certainly news to me, that gazing at a line of print could spoil it. But what did I know, about that? Besides which, the old man was so queer, and had given me such a turn, I thought that anything might have been true. ''Yes, miss,'' I said, a second time; and then: ''Yes, sir.''
Then I made a curtsey. Mr Lilly snorted, looking hard at me through his green glasses. Maud fastened her glove, and we turned to leave him.
''Make her soft, Maud,'' he said, as she pulled the door behind us.