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Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924

"Chance"

" But at
that very moment the cab rolled away, empty inside, and the door of the
house which had been standing slightly ajar till then was pushed to.
They remained silent staring at it till Mrs. Fyne whispered doubtfully "I
really think I must go over." Fyne didn't answer for a while (his is a
reflective mind, you know), and then as if Mrs. Fyne's whispers had an
occult power over that door it opened wide again and the white-bearded
man issued, astonishingly active in his movements, using his stick almost
like a leaping-pole to get down the steps; and hobbled away briskly along
the pavement. Naturally the Fynes were too far off to make out the
expression of his face. But it would not have helped them very much to a
guess at the conditions inside the house. The expression was humorously
puzzled--nothing more.
For, at the end of his lesson, seizing his trusty stick and coming out
with his habitual vivacity, he very nearly cannoned just outside the
drawing-room door into the back of Miss de Barral's governess. He
stopped himself in time and she turned round swiftly.


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