“Don’t sit there, dear! Come along! We have not a moment to lose. Shall I carry Dorothy?”
The answer startled her; a new terror had appeared.
“Don’t you see that I am holding my heart tight. I cannot let go to help you. Make the boat go faster. Why don’t you paddle.”
Virginia’s heart leaped to her throat. “Her mind is giving away,” she exclaimed, with a gasp.
There, then, the typhoid aftermath, which had been predicted would develop in time in Constance some strange and serious ailment, had found a lodgement, and now, bursting into life, lay siege to nature’s most wonderful creation, the human brain. A moment of terrifying consternation followed.
“What shall I do now?” Virginia distractedly exclaimed.
“Paddle, paddle, paddle,” feebly responded Constance.
Unmindful of the reply, Virginia stood as if transfixed with despair. She racked her brain for a way out. The situation was fast verging on the tragic.
“I will barricade the door!” she determined. “No, he may smash in the roof or sink us; I must get them away somehow.”
“Oh, Constance, dear, try to be strong. Fight down this weakness. The boat is waiting. We must escape. Help me! Oh, God, help! Help!”