The physician smiled, and she detected a shade of pity in his expression. Something like that in Miss Stone’s face when she had humored that patient by calling her “Joan of Arc.”
But he made no reply and went ahead with the examination. When Miss Stone returned he told her that Miss Adams was in perfect physical condition.
“It’s only the brain,” thought Mary Louise in secret amusement. How often she and her young friends had made that remark to each other! She resolved never to speak jokingly of insanity again.
After the doctor’s visit her day proceeded in the orderly manner which Miss Stone had outlined. She cooked and washed dishes and ate lunch with the patients. Then she went out in the garden, where she was assigned a flower bed of her own.
But Mary Louise was not interested in flower beds at the moment. She pretended to work, all the while looking about her at the grounds around the asylum, at the high stone wall below and into the valley beyond. Across this valley, on a level with the institution, she could see a white road that ran like a ribbon along the hill in the distance. This road, she decided, must be a main highway, or at least a drive frequented by automobiles—otherwise it would not be so smooth and white....
Staring at this road in silence, an inspiration came to Mary Louise. An idea that might bring about her longed-for release!
She waited eagerly for the nurse to come over to where she was working, but she was careful to keep her tone matter-of-fact when she did make her request. Miss Stone must not guess her hidden purpose!
“May I break off two sticks from some bush?” she asked indifferently. “I’d like to practice my semaphore.”
“What’s that, dear?” inquired Miss Stone skeptically. “Is it anything dangerous?”
Mary Louise smiled.