“No—please, not now,” and Crawford shuddered, for he had heard much of that room. Also, he was desirous of getting back to more normal associates than this strange being, and he resolved to leave the examination of the other victim until the return of his fellow physician, who at least was practical, and an unbeliever in spooks.
Shaken by the whole episode, Doctor Crawford concealed his disquiet by a manner even more slow and deliberate than usual. He said no word of Gifford Bruce, but announced his desire to ask a few general questions concerning practical matters.
“Where is your home, Mr. Landon?” he inquired, and then asked the same question of each.
He learned that they were all residents of New York City, except Mr. Tracy, who had lived in Philadelphia, but was contemplating a move to New York.
“I have had a call to a pastorate there,” Tracy stated, “and it seems advisable to me to accept it.”
“Mr. Bruce lived in Chicago, did he not?” went on Crawford, “and Miss Reid, also?”
“Yes,” said Landon, “but Miss Reid had been at school in Connecticut for the last three years. She was graduated in June, and her uncle and guardian, Mr. Bruce, came East for the occasion. They concluded to spend the summer with us, intending to return to Chicago next month.”
“Mr. Bruce was a wealthy man?” inquired the questioner.
“Yes;” answered Landon, “not a financial magnate, but worth at least two million dollars.”
“And who are his heirs?”