But on the third story he saw a clean,
white floor, and drew breaths of pure air from an open rear window, and
heard no noise save the dull sound of filing.
The little girl paused a second at a door bearing the inscription,
"Private," asked the visitor to please wait, and opened the door just
wide enough to admit her body, and entered, nearly closing it behind
her. In the one glance which Marcus then obtained of the interior of the
room, he saw the pale mechanic hastily rise from a jumble of cog wheels
before him, and put up a screen to shelter his work from observation,
after which he stepped forward, or rather sprang, to meet his child.
Mr. Wilkeson heard a few words of hurried conversation between the
father and daughter, and then the door was thrown wide open, and the
mechanic stood in full view. He was a man of medium height, of a spare
build, and attired in faded, seedy black. His head seemed altogether too
large for his body; and his almost livid complexion, hollow cheeks, and
gleaming eyes, told a story of constant and consuming thought. The
strange, fixed glitter of his eyes was unpleasant to behold.
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