“I was expecting it. Well, you don’t believe any longer that she’s innocent, do you, Mary Louise?”
“I’m still hoping,” replied the girl.
Miss Grant was silent for some minutes, and Mary Louise felt that it was time for her to go. But before she made a move, she told the sick woman of Hannah’s decision to leave Dark Cedars, and she held out the key.
“But I should like to keep it today, if you don’t mind, Miss Grant,” she added, “so I can get some clothing of Elsie’s for Silky to sniff at. I want to take him down to the woods to see whether he can get on her trail.”
“Keep it as long as you want it,” agreed the old lady. “If Hannah is gone, I shan’t return to Dark Cedars very soon. John wants me to go to his home, anyhow, when I get out of the hospital, so I suppose I had better agree.”
“Do you want to see William about your cow and your garden?” inquired Mary Louise.
“Yes, tell him to stop in to see me here at the hospital.... And now you had better go, child.... I’m very tired.”
Enormously relieved that the interview had been so easy, Mary Louise left the hospital and hurried back to her home. She met Jane Patterson as she entered her own gate.
“What next?” inquired her chum, who had been told the previous evening of Elsie’s disappearance. “Still acting the detective?”
“I should say,” answered Mary Louise. “Dad and I are going off now in search of Elsie.”