I put up all the curtains to let in the rush of sunlight,
likewise I opened the windows. If there is anything to beat down
sin, it is the open measure of broad daylight.
The house was well situated; from the front windows one could look
down the street and out at the blue bay beyond the city. The fog
had lifted and the sun was shining upon the water. I could make
out the ferryboats, the islands, and the long piers that lead to
Oakland, and still farther beyond the hills of Berkeley. It was a
long time since those days in college. Under the shadow of those
hills I had first met the old doctor. I was only a boy then.
I turned into the building. Even the sound of my footsteps was
foreign; the whole place was pregnant with stillness and shadow;
life was gone out. It was fearful; I felt the terror clutching
upon me, a grimness that may not be spoken; there was something
breaking within me. I had pledged myself for a year. Frankly I was
afraid.
But I had given my word. I returned to my apartments and began
that very day the closing down of my practice. In a fortnight I
had completed everything and had moved my things to the room of
Chick Watson.
XIII
ALBERT JEROME
Just as soon as possible I hurried over to Berkeley. I went
straight to the bungalow on Dwight Way; I inquired for Miss
Holcomb. She was a woman now in her late twenties, decidedly
pretty, a blonde, and of intelligent bearing.
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