"We won't tell him yet," Elsie replied; "it would only frighten him. Be sure and not mention it, dear Mrs. Harrington."
"Oh, of course not,—just as you like. But what a handsome man that was! North—North? Who can he be? I have never met him!"
"Whoever he is, he has saved our lives," said Elsie.
"Yes, yes! But, dear Miss Fuller, how oddly you acted!"
"Do put up your veil, Bessie," added Elsie.
Elizabeth obeyed, showing her face, pale and tremulous still.
"I was very much frightened," she said; "I think my side was hurt a little—that was why I fainted."
She made no other answer to their wondering questions, and they drove rapidly back to Mrs. Harrington's house.
The stranger stood upon the porch of the hotel, looking after the carriage so long as it was in sight, with a strange, inexplicable expression upon his handsome face.
After a time, he roused himself, mounted his horse, and rode slowly back to the city.