When Gretel awoke after a long, refreshing nap, her brother had gone away, but Barbara was still in the room, and she and the lady in the white cap were having a whispered conversation by the window. Gretel lay watching them in silence for several minutes. She was very happy, but she did not feel much like talking just yet. Slowly she began to take in the details of her surroundings. She was in a small, plainly furnished room, and an electric fan was waving gently over her bed. She wondered where she could be, but decided that it did not really matter so long as Barbara was there, too, and just then her sister-in-law glanced in her direction, and discovered that she was awake.
“Where are we, Barbara?” Gretel asked a few minutes later, when Mrs. Douane was sitting by her bedside, and the lady in the white cap had given her something to drink, which tasted very good.
“We are in a hospital in New York. They brought you here after your accident.”
“Accident?” repeated Gretel, looking puzzled; “did I have an accident? Oh, yes, I know; I was crossing the street, and something very big came close to me, and then I don’t remember any more. Was I run over?”
“You were knocked down by a trolley car, and badly hurt, but you are ever so much better now, and you will be quite well again soon.”
“How did you and Percy find me?” was Gretel’s next question. She was beginning to feel a good deal more interest in things than she had felt a few hours earlier.
“Why, dearest, it was all quite wonderful. If I tell you about it will you try to lie still, and not ask any more questions? The doctor says you must be kept very quiet or the fever may come back.”
Gretel promised that she would be very good, and Mrs. Douane went on to explain.
“When Higgins came to call you, and found your room empty, she was very much surprised, especially when she discovered that your suit-case had also disappeared. Then she saw your letter on the desk, and went to call Percy and me. You said you were going to some old friends in New York, and the only people we could think of were Mrs. Marsh and her daughter. Percy started for New York as soon as he could, and in the meantime we telephoned Mrs. Marsh, telling her what had happened, and asking her to communicate with us the moment you arrived. As soon as Percy reached the city he went at once to Mrs. Marsh’s, hoping to find you there, but of course they knew nothing about you, and he was just starting off to put the case in the hands of the police, when a telephone message came, saying you had been hurt, and were to be taken to this hospital. And here comes the wonderful part of the story. When you were lying unconscious in a drug store, you were recognized by a little boy, who gave his name as Peter Grubb. He said he knew where you lived, and gave Mrs. Marsh’s address to the people at the store, who at once communicated with us.”
“How very interesting,” said Gretel. “Peter Grubb was the very person I was trying to find when I couldn’t find the Lipheims, but I hadn’t any idea where he lived, except that it was uptown on the East Side. I thought perhaps he might be able to tell me how to get into vaudeville. Oh, Barbara dear, you can’t think what a comfort it is to know you really don’t mind seeing me again, even when you know how wicked I was.”