Nine o'clock
She might be very ill . She might even be dying ? Archer , with the foolish inconsistency of love , magnified every evil until he was nearly beside himself with dread , lest she might be worse that Miss Lee had represented . Nine o'clock struck ; he was walking the floor in a state of nervous excitement which would have forced him ere long to have broken all rules of etiquette and taken his way to Harrison House , had not fate saved him the necessity . A waiter entered , and brought in a letter and a package . He snatched them both , and saw they were directed in Margie 's handwriting . For a moment his heart stood still with a deadly fear .