“Mr. Sawtelle is so far improved as to be able to take the air in the orchard,” was the reply, “but Mrs. Maynard is not satisfactorily recovering from the shock.”
“Is she suffering pain?” asked Charley.
“I think not. The trouble seems to be a mental one. I fear for her reason if there is not a change almost immediately.”
“Bernice is with her?” asked Charley.
“She was until a moment ago,” was the reply. “Then she called one of the servants and left the house.”
Nick and Chick exchanged glances, and the latter almost immediately left the parlor, taking the direction of the orchard as soon as he was out of the house.
Passing along the south side of the house, Chick came to a barrier of evergreens which shut out a view of the orchard from the front. Away to the left, however, there was a gate, and the detective turned toward it. As he moved along he heard voices on the other side of the hedge. He could not distinguish the words, but the voices were those of Anton and Bernice!
Chick passed through the gate and walked around the rear of the house to the place where the ladder had been lifted to the roof of the lean-to, hoping to see the couple on the way. However, the voices ceased, and the young people were nowhere in sight.
The doctor quitted the parlor shortly after Chick’s departure, and, thus left alone with Charley, Nick asked:
“You said this morning that you are a light sleeper. How did you rest last night? Were you in your usual health when you awoke?”