“There is only one doubt,” replied Hereward, “and it is this: The identification by the clothing only must still be unsatisfactory. Lilith was in mourning for my father. Her dress was always black, and of one pattern—that is, her ordinary dress, I mean, of course. It seems that she gave a suit of her clothing to that poor girl. What of that? She had other suits of the same sort of clothing, and wore one of those that same night, for she wore no other sort on common occasions. And the fear is that when she set out to visit old Adah at the creek cabin, she was met, robbed and murdered by this tramp and his girl, and that it was her screams that old Adah heard. For remember, that Lilith’s watch and purse have never been found, nor any trace of Lilith herself, unless that found——” Hereward’s voice broke down, and his head fell back upon his pillow.
Dr. Kerr went to a side table and poured out a glass of wine, which he brought and compelled his patient to drink.
“At any rate, Tudor, there is a very reasonable hope that Lilith still lives. Let this hope sustain and not exhaust you. Leave the matter in the hands of Divine Providence, first of all, and in the hands of your two friends as his servants and instruments. Say nothing of this to any one else. It would not be well to open up such a subject of discussion in this neighborhood. Wait until we have used every human means of discovering the whereabouts of your Lilith,” said the rector, earnestly.
“Yes, that’s it! Leave the affair to us, under Providence! We have no certainty; but the new hope is better than despair,” added the doctor.
And to support moral teaching by physical means, he made up a sedative draught and left it with his patient.
The doctor and the rector went away together, much wondering at the new aspect given to the Cliff Creek tragedy by the revelations of old Adah.
They kept this revelation to themselves, and went about secretly trying to get some clew, either to the whereabouts of Lilith, or of the young girl to whom she had given a suit of her own clothes.
They visited old Adah in her cabin, and using her young master’s, Tudor Hereward’s, name, questioned her closely on the subject of the events that had transpired in her cabin on the night of the murder. They cross-questioned her with a skill and perseverance that Hereward, in his weakened condition, could never have shown. And old Adah answered them by revealing freely all she knew and all she suspected.
They came away from that interview thoroughly convinced that the body found in the creek was that of the gypsy girl to whom Lilith had given a suit of her clothes.
They were again together to Cloud Cliffs, and told the suffering master of the house of their new and strong convictions on the subject.