Read "The Proper Thing" by Edgar Saltus online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The street was empty, the night starless, the hour homicidal and serene. As the taxi flew up, Wentworth had the impression of lights extinguished, an impression which he at once revised. It was, he told himself, lights in the house adjoining that he had seen. He got out, paid the fare, ascended the steps. The cab turned. Across the street a cat cried. Beyond, afar and above, a train shone, rattled, vanished.
Wentworth opened the door. The hall was black. Feeling his way, he entered the drawing room. That too was black. At the entrance was the button of the switch. He groped for it, then stopped. Though he could see nothing and had heard nothing, he had become conscious that he was not alone. There was someone else in the room. At the sudden apperception, his nerves, dominating his flesh, made it creep.