Miss Helen pointed dramatically to the blood stains on the floor.
Suddenly the widow's lips turned quite white and a blue line appeared around her mouth. She swayed slightly and Mr. Campbell caught her. Billie was on her feet in a moment and they laid her on the couch.
"Unfasten her wrap," ordered Miss Campbell.
"No, no," said Mme. Fontaine in a very weak, thin voice. "The sight of blood—" she closed her eyes. "I shall be all right in a moment." Beads of perspiration appeared on her forehead and she shivered with a chill.
"I think Mme. Fontaine had better stay here to-night. She's too ill to get back to town," said Mr. Campbell.
"Oh, do," echoed the girls, and Miss Campbell added hospitably:
"We shall be so glad."
"I am quite well now," said the widow rising unsteadily to her feet. "You will forgive me, I hope. It is a faintness that comes to me at the sight of blood. Will you call my 'riksha now, Mr. Campbell? I must be going. I won't try to shake hands," she added, reaching the door. "I am still so light in the head, I am afraid of the effort. But I want to thank you for a delightful evening. I am only sorry it ended so disastrously."
Making a ceremonious Oriental bow to Miss Campbell and smiling and nodding to the others, she left the room followed by Mr. Campbell and the four girls.
"No one has told me yet what the shots were in the garden," announced
Billie after the widow had departed.