"Yes. I have always done so at nine o'clock by the doctor's orders."
"He was so urgent about this," said Stella, "that I have thought he feared a repetition of the entrances which occurred at Sharsdale."
"You had seen that everything was fast, then?" said Ashton-Kirk, looking at the old woman.
"Yes; every door and every window upon the lower floor and every window overlooking the porch on the second floor. As there was no way by which the house could be entered by any of the other windows we never bothered with them."
"You say Dr. Morse rang for you as you finished locking up?"
"Yes, sir; and I answered. He was in the library, and I was surprised to see that he was dressed as though he meant to go out—perhaps upon a journey. He had on his hat, an overcoat lay across a chair and he was trying to turn a key in the lock of his traveling bag. The key was bent and he had rung for me that I might bring him something to straighten it with. But as he was speaking to me, the lock turned, and he told me that I need not mind."
"You say he was dressed as though to go out. Did he do so?"
"No, sir. I am sure of that, because I went to the hall door and sat upon the step for some time. It was a fine night. So if he had gone out I should have seen him."
"How long did you sit there?"
"About ten minutes. Then I went to prepare the coffee."