the afternoon call was suddenly interrupted by a tremendous uproar beyond the closed door that was blocked by the writing-table—a babel of confused voices and the shuffling of feet. The ladies looked at one another in alarm, Mrs. Talmage Eglinton fully sharing the agitation of her visitors. Indeed, she rose and glided swiftly towards the closed door, and then, as though recollecting that it was not available, made for the principal entrance of her suite.
The General rose and followed her into the corridor, the commotion being so great as to excuse his doing so. In fact, the sounds from the next room were so appalling as to suggest that his protection might be necessary against some broken-out lunatic, and out in the corridor it was evident that some such idea prevailed among the hotel attendants. A cluster of them had already collected at the door of the adjoining apartments, and more were arriving.
“What is all this disturbance?” Mrs. Talmage Eglinton inquired of one of them, and the General, close behind, discerned a tremulous note in her indignation.
The man she accosted did not know, but
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