The little darky had cried herself into a state of collapse and quietness, with her head on Roma’s lap.
In about fifteen minutes Merritt came out with a very grave face.
“Well?” anxiously exclaimed the young lady. “Well?”
The lawyer, standing at the carriage door, made this report:
“Hanson has been staying at the Goeberlin House for the past two days. This morning he hired a carriage from its stables, saying that he was going some miles in the country to bring a little ward who had been left to his guardianship, and take her with him to the North. He was gone about two hours, and returned to the house about an hour and a half ago, bringing the child with him. The child was not taken out of the carriage. She lay very still on the cushions, and seemed to be asleep. Mr. Hanson only stopped long enough to pay his bill and get his valise, and then was driven rapidly off to the railway depot to catch the 1:30 P.M. train for the East.”
Such was the story told by the hotel clerk, and repeated by Mr. Merritt.
“To ‘make assurance doubly sure,’ let us drive at once to the depot and make inquiries there,” said Miss Fronde.
The lawyer re-entered the carriage, took his seat, and gave the order.
The horses’ heads were turned, and a few minutes’ fast driving brought them to the depot.
As soon as the carriage was drawn up Mr. Merritt got out and went to the ticket window to ask questions, while his companions waited inside the vehicle in anxious suspense.