"Please don't make me out an honored son of the West, Mrs. Rice. I was born in New Jersey."
"Were you, indeed? Oh, I'm so sorry."
"I regret it myself. The West would have fitted me out with better lungs."
Kate never went round when she could wade across. Therefore, no sooner were they inhaling the savor of the soup than she began her interrogation. "I am very much interested in occult affairs, Dr. Britt, and my brother tells me you were the family physician of this remarkable Miss Lambert. Tell us about her."
Britt considered a moment. "It is true that Mrs. Lambert confided in me and permitted me to take a part in Viola's sittings; but I can hardly be called her physician. In the first place, the girl seems so perfectly well physically that medicine is unnecessary, and then, too, I never had her confidence. To be plain, I think she hated the sight of me."
"Why was that?"
He cast a curious sidewise glance. "Well, I'm not pretty to look at, and then, I reckon she thought I was investigating her."
"I hope you were."
"I was, but I didn't get very far."
"What barred you?"