CHAPTER III
THE SHADOW ON THE CURTAIN
The two boys parted at Main and B Streets,
Fudge to loiter thoughtfully southward under
the budding maples and Perry to continue
briskly on along the wider thoroughfare to where,
almost at the corner of G Street, a small yellow
house stood in a diminutive yard behind a decaying
picket fence. Over the gate, which had stood open
ever since Perry had grown too old to enjoy swinging
on it, was a square lantern supported on an iron
arch. At night a dim light burned in it, calling the
passer's attention to the lettering on the front:
No. 7—Dr. Hull—Office.
Beside the front door a second sign proclaimed the house to be the abode of Matthew P. Hull, M.D.
Nearby was an old-fashioned bell-pull and, just below it, a more modern button. Above the latter were the words "Night Bell." The house looked