Left alone, Violet started from the trance of numb despair which was stealing slowly over her, and glanced wildly about the small room. Thank Heaven, she was rid of his hateful presence at last! Scarcely knowing what she did, she went over to the window, a small square window too high up for her to look from, and protected by stout iron bars. An impulse seized her to look forth and see where she was. Pushing the small table over to the window, she climbed upon it, and so was able to peep from between the bars. Below was a retired street with only an occasional passer-by. But as Violet stood gazing eagerly forth, she saw a man walking slowly down the street, and once in a while casting a furtive glance up at the building. A wild flash of hope went through her heart, for the man was Detective Dunbar.
CHAPTER XXXI.
A RAY OF HOPE.
For a moment Violet could scarcely believe the evidence of her own senses. Could it be Dunbar, or was it only a fancy, a freak of the imagination conjured up from the depths of her half-distraught brain?
She had become accustomed to the detective, after her mother’s supposed death, and had become familiar with his personal appearance; so she gazed from the iron-barred window now with eager, anxious eyes, to make sure that she had not deceived herself.
Yes, it was Dunbar; there could be no doubt upon that score. He was gazing up at the buildings with furtive eyes, as though seeking for some one.
A negro girl lounged indolently out of the high, iron-barred gate of the institution, and moved lazily on down the street. Dunbar moved rapidly on after her. Could he be seeking some one within the grim, forbidding walls, and was the negro girl his accomplice? Perhaps she had even been sent inside the grounds as a spy in his service. And now that she had emerged from the dreary confines of the asylum, had Dunbar waited to receive her report, and was he following her now for that purpose?
Strange as it may seem, Violet had hit upon the real truth, the true state of affairs. She stood there gazing forth upon the now deserted street with eager, devouring eyes, a faint hope stirring feebly within her heart. Somehow the glimpse she had had of Dunbar made her hope in spite of her dreary surroundings and gloomy prospects. There was something in the sturdy, cheery aspect of the man which was conducive to hope and confidence. And as Violet stood there vaguely turning over in her brain the fact of his presence near her, the wild idea crossed her mind, was he seeking her?
Improbable as the idea appeared at first sight, it lingered within the girl’s heart and would not be expelled.