"Well," he said curiously, as she paused and hesitated.
"Then I awoke, and all the people were running screaming down the street, and the bells made such a noise, and I was frightened."
"And no one was here to tell the good news?"
"What good news?"
"Ah, now I have something to gladden thy poor little heart with—great news. There has been a great victory for us. The war, people think, is over; and soon all our loved ones may come home to us again."
"My father?" cried Violet, sitting suddenly upright in her chair and gazing into the policeman's face with eyes which, even in the gloom of the shaded room, shone with a more wonderful light than the violet stars which were falling again in a shower of beauty on the hill outside.
"Yes, thy father, dearest maiden; he will soon be home: and that is why the people ran so fast in the street this afternoon, and why they are so noisy now, sending up rockets and making such a riot, screaming and shouting."
"How soon?" asked Violet in a scarcely audible voice, for the sick faintness she had felt before was returning.
"Ah, that I have not heard; but if all be true it cannot be very long—a month or so at most."
Violet sighed unconsciously. "I am so—so tired," she said, almost under her breath.