“Eleanor, dear,”—Douglas turned to the weeping girl. “If you feel strong enough I wish you would tell us about your quest to which you alluded this afternoon.” Eleanor raised her head and looked reproachfully at him. “I realize the subject may prove painful to you at this time, but, Annette having implicated you in her transactions, I think it is best for you to clear up any seeming mysteries.”
“Perhaps you are right.” Eleanor sighed as she wiped away her tears. “I must first tell you that my mother was Nora Fitzgerald——”
“The famous actress?” broke in Brett.
“The same. She gave up the stage when she married my father, Barry Thornton, then a lieutenant in the United States Navy. Their married life was unusually happy; therefore it was all the more incredible and tragic when one day he disappeared——”
“Disappeared?” echoed Douglas blankly.
“Disappeared utterly. His ship was at Hampton Roads and he was given shore leave one day. At the wharf he told the coxswain to come back for him at ten o’clock that evening, and he walked on up to the hotel. From that hour to this he has never been seen or heard from.” Eleanor paused and pushed her hair off her forehead, then continued: “A short time before his mysterious disappearance my father fell from the rigging of the ship to the deck with such force that he was picked up unconscious. It is supposed that the fall may have affected his brain, and so accounted for his subsequent disappearance.”
“That is very likely,” commented Lane. “I saw a similar case in the Philippines, but pardon me, Miss Eleanor, I did not mean to interrupt.”
“Several days after my father’s disappearance a nude body was washed ashore miles below Norfolk. The condition of the body prevented positive identification, but many persons, among them Uncle Dana, believed it to be my father. My mother, however, refused to accept that theory. She was convinced that he was still alive and suffering from mental aberration. She returned to the stage, first placing me with my uncle, John Fitzgerald, who brought me up. She visited many cities and many countries, but could find no trace of my father. Shortly before her death she sent for me and charged me solemnly to continue her search, which I have done to the best of my ability.”
“My poor girl,” said Douglas softly.