"I shall call myself," was his sole reply; and he shut the door with a
crash that indicated no very pleasurable emotions.
I cared very little about my lodger's temper. The stealthy rustle of his
bank-note in my waistcoat pocket was music enough to sweeten the harshest
tones of his voice, and to keep alive a cheerful good humour in my heart;
and although there was, indisputably, something queer about him, I was,
on the whole, very well pleased with my bargain.
The next day our new inmate did not ring his bell until noon. As soon
as he had had some breakfast, of which he very sparingly partook, he
told the servant that, for the future, he desired that a certain
quantity of milk and bread might be left outside his door; and this
being done, he would dispense with regular meals. He desired, too,
that, on my return, I should be acquainted that he wished to see me in
his own room at about nine o'clock; and, meanwhile, he directed that he
should be left undisturbed. I found my little wife full of astonishment
at Mr. Smith's strange frugality and seclusion, and very curious to
learn the object of the interview he had desired with me. At nine
o'clock I repaired to his room.
I found him in precisely the costume in which I had left him--the same
green goggles--the same muffling of the mouth, except that being now no
more than a broadly-folded black silk handkerchief, very loose, and
covering even the lower part of the nose, it was obviously intended for
the sole purpose of concealment. It was plain I was not to see more of
his features than he had chosen to disclose at our first interview. The
effect was as if the lower part of his face had some hideous wound or
sore. He closed the door with his own hand on my entrance, nodded
slightly, and took his seat. I expected him to begin, but he was so long
silent that I was at last constrained to address him.
I said, for want of something more to the purpose, that I hoped he had
not been tormented by the strange cat the night before.
"What cat?" he asked, abruptly; "what the plague do you mean?"
"Why, I certainly did see a cat go into your room last night," I resumed.
"Hey, and what if you did--though I fancy you dreamed it--I'm not afraid
of a cat; are you?" he interrupted, tartly.
At this moment there came a low growling mew from the closet which opened
from the room in which we sat.
"Talk of the devil," said I, pointing towards the closet. My companion,
without any exact change of expression, looked, I thought, somehow
still more sinister and lowering; and I felt for a moment a sort of
superstitious misgiving, which made the rest of the sentence die away
on my lips.
Perhaps Mr. Smith perceived this, for he said, in a tone calculated to
reassure me--
"Well, sir, I think I am bound to tell you that I like my apartments very
well; they suit me, and I shall probably be your tenant for much longer
than at first you anticipated."