"Of course I'm not ill, Dr. Morton! They won't believe me when I say that Andy Morse was hiding here and I gave him something to eat and the money out of my bank. If you go into the kitchen you will see the plates and things on the table, and if you go up to my room you will see the empty bank. I do wish my father and mother were here!" she added. "I'm just tired of not being believed."
The doctor felt her pulse and looked at her.
"I believe you, my child," he said. "You are as well as I am, and I have no doubt Andy Morse was here. He is quite capable of anything. I am sorry you gave him your money, for he doesn't deserve it, but I quite believe you."
Theodora glanced at him gratefully, and from that moment she considered Dr. Morton one of her best friends. He asked her more particularly about the occurrences of the night, and she gave him a detailed history of it from the time when she returned from her ride.
"Well, well," he said, when he heard how she had stood in the moonlight and invited the intruder to come forth—"well, well! you're the girl for my mind. And didn't you feel afraid?"
"Why, yes, I suppose I was afraid," said she. "But there was nothing else to be done that I could think of, and so I had to do it."
At which the doctor chuckled more appreciatively than ever.
Miss Joanna was much better in the morning, and in a few days was quite convalescent. The sisters were all more or less prostrated by this thrilling night, and it was a week before the household affairs were running with their accustomed smoothness, and before the Misses Middleton could turn their thoughts and their conversation to the ordinary concerns of life.
A new idea and a very startling one had been presented to them, too. Dr. Morton, upon each of his visits to Miss Joanna, had made some remark upon Theodora's courage, upon her presence of mind, upon her general excellence. He declared that she, and she alone, had been the means of saving her aunt's life, and in his opinion she should be rewarded not only for that, but for having prevented a bold and startling robbery.
Undoubtedly Andy Morse, if left to himself, would have carried away the greater part of the Misses Middleton's treasures. According to Dr. Morton, if it had not been for Teddy, her aunts, when they descended in the morning, would have found their large drawing-room absolutely bare and empty. The girl should certainly be rewarded, and no better token of her aunts' gratitude and regard could be found than a bicycle. Not only would it give her pleasure, but it would also be of benefit to her health.