But again the blotted characters were wholly illegible. No effort of the mother's will could still the nervous, trembling hands, and render legible the anguished words she laboriously traced upon the paper.
She sighed hopelessly as her daughter shook her head.
"Never mind, mamma," she said, "let it go, you are too nervous to form a single letter legibly. I will ask you some questions instead, and you will bow when your answer should be affirmation, and shake your head to indicate the negative."
Mrs. Carroll gave the required token of assent to this proposition.
"Very well. Now I will ask you the first question," said Xenie, trying to subdue her quivering voice into calm accents. "Mamma, did Lora go to sleep after I left you together?"
A shake of the head negatived the question.
"She was restless and flighty, then, perhaps, still dwelling on her dream about her husband?"
This question received an affirmative answer.
"But after awhile she became composed and fell asleep—did she not?" continued Mrs. St. John.