An hour passed and she did not come. Then she walked swiftly down The Street and passed the post office, without turning her head. Her face was pale and she was biting her lips to keep them steady.
“It’s bad news,� they whispered one to another.
“Awful!� groaned Dick, as she went straight to the pastor’s study at the back of the church. No one knocked at that door on sermon-sacred Saturday afternoon unless the need were extreme.
Mr. Harvie met her with grave, kind, questioning eyes. “My dear Mrs. Mallett——� he began.
Then she broke down and sobbed as if her heart would break.
“It’s Fayett,� she said as soon as she could speak. “He’s in hospital.�
“The Great Physician can heal our dear boy. Let us——�
“He says he’s all right; it was a flesh wound; he was starting back to the army. It—it isn’t that!�
“Not that? Then what——�
Mrs. Mallett again burst into tears.