“Not any.”
Her hand touched my arm. “You haven’t any idea how he died?”
“No. It’s absolutely baffling. But try not to think about it. Everything will come out right for you, in the end.”
I hadn’t meant to say just that—to recall her to the uncertainty of her own future now that her uncle, financially ruined, had disappeared.
“I’m not thinking—about what will happen to me.” She suddenly straightened, and her eyes kindled. “About the other—Ned, I’m not going to try to keep from thinking about it. I’m going to think about it all I can, until I see it through. Only thought, and keen, true thought, can help us now. I’ve had to do a lot of thinking in my life, overcoming difficulties. And there’s no one really vitally interested but me—I was the closest relative, except for his uncle, that Nealman had. I’m going to find out the mystery of that lagoon! Perhaps, in finding it, I can solve a lot of other problems too—perhaps the one you just mentioned. Uncle Grover was kind to me, he gave me his protection and shelter—and I’m going to know what killed him!”
I found myself staring into her blazing, determined eyes. She meant what she said. The fire of a zealot was in her face. “Good Heavens, Edith! That isn’t work for a woman——”
“It’s work for anybody, with a clear enough brain to see the truth, and courage to prove it out——”
In some mysterious way her hands had got into mine. We were standing face to face in the shadowed hall. “But promise me—you won’t go into danger!”
“I promise—that I’ll take every precaution—to preserve myself.”