“Elfie,” said Justin, “have I your permission to speak?”
“Yes, certainly,” replied the young lady addressed.
“Well, then, Mrs. Goldsborough was the other witness. At the same hour at which old Bob admitted the mysterious visitor, Mrs. Goldsborough was watching by the bed of my sister, when she was suddenly aware of the presence of a man by her side. Taking him at first to be myself, she was about to speak, when, on looking closer, she recognized, or thinks she recognized, the Rebel General Eastworth, supposed to have been killed at Charleston.”
“I am quite certain I recognized him,” put in Elfie.
“Well, then, she is quite certain she recognized him. She was at first so stupefied with astonishment that she could not call out. And before she could recover her self-possession and give the alarm, he applied chloroform to her nostrils, and deprived her of the power of moving and speaking, although not of hearing and seeing.”
“I heard and saw everything that occurred in the first few minutes of his presence there,” added Elfie.
“She asserts that he spoke to my sister, succeeded even in arousing her attention, and calling her back to full, though transient consciousness, and gaining her forgiveness and her blessing.”
“And by that time,” added Elfie, “the chloroform that he had secured under my nostrils so completely overcame me, that I knew nothing more until Britomarte aroused me.”
“And is that all?” inquired the doctor.
“Yes, and enough, too, I should think,” answered Elfie.