This note Irene read two or three times before deciding to send it. There certainly was no harm in it, she thought, and possibly good might come of it. She could not lose the hold she had on Rex without a struggle and this would keep her in his mind. If she could only go back and be on the spot and see him occasionally during his illness she might accomplish her purpose yet, but this was impossible. The duties of home were imperative, even to her selfish nature. Her overworked mother gave up when Johnnie died, and Irene was compelled to take the helm, which she did unwillingly, rebelling against her fate and sending her thoughts constantly to Oakfield where Rex Travers lay burning with fever and talking constantly of the will, of the broken mirror, the half face and the eye, which troubled him more than all the rest.
CHAPTER XX
IN THE SICK-ROOM
Rex seemed worse, perhaps, than he really was, because of the delirium which increased rapidly after his interview with Rena. The sweat which stood in so big drops upon his face and hands was gone, leaving his skin parched and dry. His head was very hot and rolled from side to side, following the eye, which he said was watching him and moving from point to point. Sometimes it dropped upon the pillow over his shoulder and sometimes on the bed close to him, when he would try to brush it off. How the idea of the eye originated I could not guess, but Colin knew, and after listening awhile to Rex’s ravings he left the room muttering something about stopping the infernal nonsense. Calling Nixon he bade him take some heavy planks and cover up the well, putting a big stone on the centre plank, so it could not be removed easily. Then he came back, and sitting down by Rex tried to quiet him, telling him the eye was in the well with the mirror, and he had covered it up.
“You needn’t tell me that,” Rex said. “It’s on your coat-sleeve, this minute, winking up at you. Don’t you see it.”
“Whew!” Colin exclaimed, jumping up and brushing his sleeve vigorously, while Rex laughed.
“You don’t like it either—that big blue eye staring at you—but you don’t budge it at all. It sticks with all your brushing. There it is on your shoulder now.”
“This is awful,” Colin said. “I think I’ll get out.”
He left the room hurriedly, taking the eye with him, so that for a time Rex was free from its tormenting presence. But it came back again, and all through the night and the next day he watched it and talked about it, while his fever increased and his temperature went up and the doctor began to look anxious, wondering how we could rid ourselves of that eye which was making us both so nervous, especially when Rex called out that it had alighted upon some part of our person. Even I began to brush myself and to fancy I saw it flitting through the room and alighting first on Rex and then on myself, and was afraid I was losing my nerve, and wondering what I should do.
It was not until the second day that Rena came again, bringing the good news that Tom was coming the next morning. He had apprised her by telegram, and her face was very bright and happy.
“Tom will know just what to do,” she said, and then asked if she could see Mr. Travers.