CHAPTER XII
AN UNEXPECTED EMERGENCY
'Rill seemed to understand what was in Janice's mind and heart. She kept on with strained vehemence:
"I know what they all say! And my mother is as bad as any of them. They say Hopewell was intoxicated. He was sick, and the bartender mixed him something to settle his stomach. I think maybe he put some liquor in it unbeknown to Hopewell. Or something!
"The poor, dear man was ill all night, Janice, and he never did remember how he got home from the dance. Whatever he drank seemed to befuddle his brain just as soon as he came out into the night air. That should prove that he's not a drinking man."
"I—I am sorry for you, dear," Janice said softly. "And I am sorry anybody saw Mr. Drugg that evening on his way home."
"Oh, I know you saw him, Janice—and Marty Day and my mother. Mother can be as mean as mean can be! She has never liked Hopewell, as you know."
"Yes, I know," admitted Janice.
"She keeps throwing such things up to me. And her tongue is never still. It is true Hopewell's father was a drinking man."
"Indeed?" said Janice, curiously.