"Don't send for a nurse. I must stay with him. He is delirious, and I have just learned—from him—from his ravings, a secret—a terrible secret—one that must not be known!"
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE BLUE-EYED NURSE.
It was at the door of Dudley's sick-room that Carrie informed Max that she had learned a secret from the lips of the sick man, and Max, by a natural impulse of curiosity, nay, more, a deep interest, pushed the door gently open.
Dudley's voice could be heard muttering below his breath words which Max could not catch.
But Carrie pulled the young man sharply back by the arm into the corridor, and shut the door behind her. Her face was full of determination.
"No," said she, "not even you."
Max drew himself up, offended.
"I should think you might trust me," he said, stiffly. "The doctor will have to hear when he comes. And the secret, whatever it is, will be safer with me than with old Haselden."