“How did you get word to her?”
Imbrie blandly evaded the trap. “I sent a letter out privately to be passed along by the Indians—what they call moccasin telegraph.”
“Ah! Why did you choose that method?”
“Because I wished to keep my affairs to myself. I had heard of the curiosity of the white men at Fort Enterprise concerning my movements, and I did not care to gratify it.”
“Very well. Now, when you started back with her, did she go home with you?”
“No, sir. She was taken sick at Swan Lake, and I had to leave her there.”
“How did you come to leave her if she was sick?”
“She was not very sick. Her leg swelled up and she couldn’t travel, that was all.”
Stonor signed to the Major that he wished to ask a question, and the Major bade him go ahead.
“Tell us exactly what was the matter with her, as a doctor, I mean.”