Kate Heath’s declaration and semi-threat, Doctor Davison’s recognition of him, and the subsequent disaster which seemed impending, had served to render his mind active, alert, and unsusceptible to the influence of any ordinary administration of medicine.
Evening approached, and the doctor, running in for a brief call, found him sullen and uncommunicative. There was a contraction of his brow, and an odd look in his dull eyes, that were well calculated to excite apprehension.
And it was with increasing concern that Doctor Davison left him, not to call again until the arrival of his brother, who was to act the part of nurse, and who was expected on the night train.
At nine o’clock in the evening Carlos rose from his bed. On assuming a standing posture, he at first staggered with dizziness, but quickly recovered.
He was in a condition between sanity and delusion. He could not control his movements—he felt himself led on by some irresistible force, and yet he knew what he was doing, and was conscious that he was acting rashly and imprudently. He kept muttering to himself:
“Yes, it must be done to-night—to-night is the time. No more miserable delays—no more unbearable suspense. To-night I will go—to-night shall the secret of Rocky Beach be penetrated. Am I in my right mind, I wonder? I think not, and yet the way seems clear. Yes, the time for action has come, and I’ll go forth to meet the enemy.”
His madness lent him strength and cunning. He was soon dressed, and he stepped softly from his room into the passage. Through this he walked rapidly, and thence down the stairs into the lower hall.
No one was in sight. He paused and made sure of this, for he had the sense to know that he was ill, and that if any of the attendants of the hotel should observe him they might prevent his going farther, or follow him. He hastened to the outside door, and walked into the cold air. In fact, they were grateful to his heated brow, and, with refreshed, stimulated feeling, he bent his footsteps rapidly from the hotel.
Notwithstanding his half delirious condition, he had a fixed definite purpose, as was evinced by the promptness with which he proceeded in a certain direction.
His route took him away from the business streets to the outskirts of the village, and finally on a lonely country road.