"Just come in, will you, Dr. Rane? I want you for something very particular."
He felt sure she only wanted to question him about the death, and would a great deal rather have gone on: but with her red and smiling face inviting him in peremptorily, he did not see his way to refusing her.
"And so he is gone--that poor young man!" she began, meeting him in her smart dress and pink cap. "When I heard the death-bell ring out this morning, it sounded to me a'most like my own knell."
"Yes, he is gone--unhappily," murmured Dr. Rane.
"Well, now, doctor, the next thing is--what became of you yesterday?"
The change of subject appeared peculiar.
"Became of me?" repeated Dr. Rane. "How do you mean?"
"All the mortal day I was stuck at this parlour window, waiting to see you go by," proceeded Mrs. Gass. "You never passed once."
"Yes, I did. I passed in the morning."
"My eyes must have gone a-maying then, for they never saw you," was Mrs. Gass's answer.