“Such evidence, purely circumstantial, is not always reliable. So said our wise and learned Dunbar, and Dunbar, as usual, was right. But he gave up the case apparently, and the few who interested themselves in the attempt to prove that Rosamond Arleigh was not dead—oh, they are very few, I assure you, Violet; for the world at large believes her lying in the grave-yard near The Oaks!—they looked upon Dunbar’s theories as absurd. But all that did not daunt our detective.
“Swiftly and silently he went on with his hunt. He spent days traveling up and down the river, and at last, one day, near its mouth, he chanced upon a schooner, whose captain told him a wild tale in regard to the body of a woman which had been brought on board his vessel by a negro named Clark some weeks previous. The captain declared that the body had been found by Clark at the very spot where Mrs. Arleigh’s cloak and slipper had been picked up by Dunbar.
“The detective put two and two together; then got on board the schooner and went to New Orleans.
“Once there, he went to the Charity Hospital, whither, the captain declared, the woman had been taken when signs of life had been discovered.
“At the hospital Dunbar made the acquaintance of two physicians, who remembered the case, and showed him the entry in the books which recorded the arrival of the unknown woman, describing her appearance and dress, and stating that she was suffering from certain wounds about her head which had produced fracture of the skull.
“The two physicians had performed an operation for the purpose of lifting the portion of the skull pressing upon the brain. That operation had failed. The consequence was that the woman would be insane—be brave, Violet; try, try, my child!—for the balance of her days.”
“Oh, Doctor Danton, I can not—can not bear it!” sobbed the girl. “Perhaps it would be better if she were indeed at rest!”
“Not so, my child. Listen. The physicians stated that a second operation might be performed in time, when the patient would be a little stronger and better able to endure it.
“The second attempt might be successful; the case was not utterly hopeless, they declared. But, in the meantime, the patient must be removed from the hospital—that grand refuge for the suffering, which is a boon and blessing to the people of New Orleans—ay, to the whole state of Louisiana.
“Although supported by the munificence of a chartered institution which is bitterly opposed by the cranks and ultra-‘moral’ people of the state, it is the only reliance upon which Louisiana can lean for means to defray its expenses. I am no politician, my child, but, as a physician, I would feel very sorry to see the New Orleans Charity Hospital closed for lack of means with which to support it. But let me hasten my story.