Madam Trevor, upon her return to the house, said not a word of the scene in the cabin. It was a relief to her to find that de Mailly had tactfully departed and that the family was alone. Lucy and Virginia beset her with questions, for the child was a pet with them all. It was something of a shock, then, when their mother turned upon them, saying sharply: "Sambo will die," and forthwith retired to her own room. The girls looked at each other for a long moment in amazement, and then Lucy cried quickly:
"Let us go to see him at once."
Virginia would have assented, but her brother shook his head.
"Deborah and the doctor both are there. If you are needed, you will be sent for. Otherwise I forbid you to go."
And so the Trevor family lived dismally through the afternoon, waiting for the supper-hour, when the watchers would appear. But Adam blew the horn in vain. No word came from the cabin, and Madam Trevor, burning with curiosity and anxiety, flatly refused to send any one to ask news of the child.
The sun set, and dusk deepened to evening. Candles were lighted in the sitting-room, but Vincent alone made any pretence of reading. The three women moved about restlessly, the girls not daring, and their mother unwilling to speak on the subject which occupied all their thoughts. The silence had become unbearable, and Vincent at last started to put away his book, with a resolve to go to the quarters, when the door flew open and Dr. Carroll strode into the room, carrying Deborah's body in his arms. He laid her down upon the brocaded sofa, while the girls rushed to her side.
"She fainted as we came across the yard," explained the doctor, wearily.
"The child is dead, then?"
"Sambo will live. The girl saved his life. She is a genius, madam; and—for God's sake, get me a glass of wine!"