"What is the matter?" asked the governor.
"The chimney!" gasped the woman faintly.
"The chimney! Speak—explain."
"His blood—Mathias's," she said; "see the chimney. I dare not look."
Two of the men by now had approached the chimney, and lowering the light they carried, one of them discovered a dark ominous pool upon the hearth.
"Call the doctor; there is something more than meets the eye in this."
This order was promptly obeyed, and a surgeon was speedily in attendance. A mere cursory glance convinced the man of skill that the blood upon the woman's face was not her own, and just as he arrived at the decision, drip, drip, drip it began again upon the hearth.
The men looked at each other half scared, and the governor himself was scarcely more self-possessed.
The surgeon alone retained his presence of mind.
Snatching a lamp from one of the men, he thrust it as far as his arm could reach up the chimney and looked earnestly up.