"I don't know," Nan returned slowly. "She was excited, of course, and soon afterward she fainted. There might have been a good deal of imagination in what she said."
"I don't think so." Jo shook her head and her brow was creased in an effort to think clearly. "I was half-blinded by the smoke and it was dark in the room when I stumbled across your Aunt Emma's chair, Nan. A moment later I felt my arms about some one, but I can't tell for the life of me whether that some one was standing up or seated in the chair. I took it for granted that she was sitting down—but I might have been mistaken."
"Well, anyway, it will do a lot of good if she only thinks she can use her feet," Nan decided. "It will give her hope, and that's what she has been without for a good long time. Poor Aunt Emma!"
The girl chums had come by this time to the Harrison house. There were lights inside and Nan could see that her father and mother had reached home and had learned of the damage done during their absence.
"You can come in for a few minutes and say hello to Mother, can't you?" Nan urged, but the other girls demurred.
"I'll have to run along or the folks will think I'm lost, strayed, or stolen for good this time," Sadie laughed.
"Same here!" Jo's face was sober, almost sad, and Nan thought she knew what was wrong.
"You're worrying about Laurel Hall, Jo," she said sympathetically. "But don't get too blue. There must be a way out, if only we can find it."
"If only we can find it!" repeated Jo, with a wry little twist of her lips. "So long, Nan. See you to-morrow."
As Sadie and Jo went on toward the center of town where they lived on the same street in houses across one from the other, they were both subdued and thoughtful.