Guy Hammersley; or, Clearing his Name — page 208: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

GUY HAMMERSLEY. i99 door of stout oak was a sliding one, with the key on the outside, as Guy remembered by reason of Mrs. Westmore having caught her dress in it as she passed. ‘‘If Ican only get him into that closet by some hook or crook,” thought the boy, ‘‘ we can shut him up there and go for help.” But what pretext could be found for getting the host up from the dinner-table and into the china closet? | ‘If I can only lure him there by some stratagem,” Guy told himself. He had just eaten his last date, which left him free to admire the entire design of the oyster plate if he so chose. But he was far too preoccupied to give it more than apassing glance. And yetthis one glance furnished him with an inspiration. ‘‘Oh, Major Warburton,” he suddenly broke forth, ‘you say you are so fond of coincidences in dates, I wonder if I have not discovered another for you.” ‘‘Really, what is it? Most extraordinary, I am sure,” and the major abandoned his attempt to make Amy eat, and turned to his vis-a-vis with eager interest in face and voice. ‘‘Why, these oyster plates,” rejoined Guy, hoping that the Westmores would understand that he had a special plan in view. ‘‘They are the handsomest I have ever seen, and I was just wondering whether the set was complete. I suppose there are twelve of — them, and this is the twelfth of the month. But servants are so careless, it is possible some of them may have been broken.” Gomicboo cS (E(0) m