"Whew! is it as bad as that?" gasped Will.
"It's impossible to make out whether the owner of that white face is a man, a woman or a child," continued Frank, slowly; "but I'm pretty sure the window has bars across it. The person saw us, and tried to attract our attention, but made no sound just then, you remember. Afterwards we heard that cry."
Will was plainly much exercised. He seemed to shiver as though he felt a chill creep over him.
"But Frank, what would old Aaron keep any one shut up in his place for?" he demanded. "Why, it would be against the law, you know, to deprive any one of his liberty."
"Not under certain conditions, Will," he was told; "and perhaps Mr. Dennison has the backing of the law in what he's doing."
Will stared hard at the speaker.
"Oh! do you mean, Frank, that the person behind that barred window might be a madman?"
"That's the only reasonable explanation I'm able to scare up, Will. Suppose, now, his wife went out of her mind years ago. He cared so much for her that the thought of having her confined in any ordinary insane asylum was repulsive to him. What would he do then, having plenty of money?"
"It sounds reasonable to me, for a fact. Who could blame him if he built this house, and surrounded it with a high fence that would keep the inmate from escaping when allowed in the grounds with an attendant? Yes, I shouldn't wonder but that you've guessed the truth, Frank. Everything seems to go to prove it. And then, after all, can you blame him for getting so huffy when he believed we were trying to pry into his terrible secret?"
"I don't think he acted queerly, if what we suspect is true," ventured Frank.