“But Doctor, will she ever come back?” John said despondently. “Do you think that we shall ever see her again?”
“I am quite sure of it,” Dr. Barnhelm answered. “There can be no question of that; she will come back.”
There was no hope or joy in his voice, only absolute conviction, and something a little like fear, at least that was the thought that came to them both, as he quietly left the room.
“He is wrong, Doctor,” John said as the door closed. “I have seen her. She is not coming back.”
“She told you so?” questioned Dr. Crossett eagerly.
“No. I did not speak to her. I saw her going up Broadway in Dick Fenway’s automobile. He was with her. She had gone to him. Is with him now. I tried to stop them, but I failed. They were not alone. They had a Mrs. Harlan with them.”
“A woman! Thank God for that,” exclaimed the Doctor. “We may be in time yet, my boy.”
“You don’t know this woman,” John spoke bitterly. “Her presence wouldn’t protect any girl from such a man as that. She laughs at the things you and I call decency, or virtue. Between Dick Fenway and such a woman, Lola hasn’t a chance; not a hope! They won’t stop, either of them, until they have dragged her down to their own level!”
“I will go to her,” the Doctor spoke eagerly. “She would fear me less than she would you, or her father, because she has wronged me less. I will go there, as soon as it is daylight.”
