Not until morning did the doctor, who had not left Nadine for a moment, give his opinion as to the nature of her illness.
"She undoubtedly has an attack of brain fever," he said, looking very grave, "and will require great care. You must give her every attention," he added, turning to the Sister of Charity, in whose charge Nadine would now be.
The Sister's heart was already full of sympathy for the sweet young girl, and she replied in her soft voice:
"Be assured, sir, she shall want for nothing. Everything possible will be done for her."
Despite the authority given by the magistrate, that Cæsar and Abel should be permitted to remain near their sister, it must not be supposed that they were set at liberty. They were still kept under surveillance, although indeed there was small need for it. But the brigadier persisted in believing in those two hundred francs to have been stolen.
During the long anxious days while Nadine's life hung in the balance, poor Cæsar did not concern himself as to whether there had been any answer received from Morainville, until one morning the doctor announced that, barring fresh complications which he could not then foresee, Nadine would recover.
The two boys fairly shouted for joy at this good news, and, his mind being thus relieved about his sister, Cæsar was able to think of something else.
Naturally his first thought was about the Pradères, and he begged the brigadier, who came to the hospital every day to make sure that his youthful prisoners had not escaped, to take him to the magistrate in order to find out what answer had been received.