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The house was set in a valley at the foot of two hills Through the mist
of the December afternoon, it had loomed pleasantly before him The door
was ajar, and he stepped into a little hall covered with ingrain carpet
To the right was the dining-room, the table covered with a white cloth, and
in its exact center an unco bunch of dried flowers To the left,
the typical parlor of such places It s Hotel in duplicate, plush self-rocker and all Over
everything was silence and a pervading sressive with new paint--the sagging old floors shone with it, the
doors gleamed
"Hello!" called K
There were slow footsteps upstairs, the closing of a bureau drawer, the
rustle of a wo uncertainly
on a carpet oasis that was the center of the parlor varnish, stripped off
his sweater
"Not very busy here this afternoon!" he said to the unseen female on the
staircase Then he saw her It was Tillie She put a hand against the
doorframe to steady herself Tillie surely, but a new Tillie! With her
hair loosened around her face, a fresh blue chintz dress open at the
throat, a black velvet bow on her breast, here was a Tillie fuller,