And Tom walked away, while Harold went back to the cottage, where he found Jerrie sleeping very quietly, with a look on her face so like that it had worn in her babyhood, when he called her his little girl, that he involuntarily stooped down and kissed it as one would kiss a beautiful baby.
The next morning Jerrie was very restless, and talked wildly of the Tramp House and the diamonds, insisting that they were hers and must be brought to her.
'Why did you tell her about them?' Mrs. Crawford asked, reproachfully.
But Harold did not reply, his mind was so torn with distracting doubts as to whether he ought to take the western trip or not.
If he went, he must go at once, and to leave Jerrie in her present state seemed impossible. He would consult the physician first, and Judge St. Claire next. The doctor gave it as his opinion that Jerrie was in no danger, if she were only kept quiet. She had taken a severe cold and overtaxed her strength, while most likely she had inherited from some one a tendency to be flighty when anything was the matter, and he thought Harold might venture to leave her.
'Yes, I'd go if I were you,' he added, looking intently at the young man; for, like Billy, he too thought it might be pleasanter for him to be out of the way for a time, although he did not say so.
And this was the view the judge took of it, after a few moments' conversation. His first question had been:
'Well, my boy, can you tell me now who gave them to you?'
'No, I can't,' was Harold's reply; and then, acting upon a sudden impulse, he burst out impetuously: 'Yes, I will tell you, for I can trust you, and I want your advice so badly.'
So he repeated rapidly all he knew, and his theory with regard to Arthur, whom he wished so much to find, and of Billy's proposition that he should go on his business to Tacoma. For a few moments the judge seemed perplexed and undecided, for he was balancing in his mind the pros and cons for going from the people, or staying to face them. If he stayed he might have some unpleasant things to bear and hear, for there were those who would talk, in spite of their protestations of the young man's innocence; while to go might look like running away from the storm, with the matter unexplained. On the whole, however, he decided that it was better to go.