pointed with his whip to a white object which lay in the roadway close
beside the wheels of the cart. She had not dropped her handkerchief--she
knew that it was at that moment tightly clenched in her left hand, but
she understood.

"Thank you," she called, and hurried toward him. The boy, meanwhile, had
climbed down from the wagon, and picking up the handkerchief, which he
had himself secretly dropped, handed it to her, with a polite bow. She
felt, as she clutched the bit of linen, that within it lay a note.

"He is here," she said quickly, in an undertone. "The box is safe. It is
hidden. They have not yet discovered it. But I am afraid something
terrible has happened to Mr. Duvall. Tell them to send help, quick." She
turned away, and the boy mounted his box, whistling gayly, and at once
drove off.

Grace hurried to her room, to examine the note within the handkerchief.
She could hardly wait to see what it contained. The contents were a
great disappointment to her. "Leave the house about ten o'clock
to-morrow morning," it said. That was all. She had already decided to do
this, in order to effect, if possible, her husband's release. So far as
the snuff box was concerned, she felt that she did not care whether the
doctor discovered it or not, if only she might know that Richard was
safe. All during the evening she wandered aimlessly about the house,
hoping each minute that she might come upon him, but her search was in
vain. Richard Duvall seemed to have vanished completely.

Once she met the doctor, just as she had given up in despair and was
returning to her room. He spoke pleasantly enough, asked her how she
felt, and showed much concern that she had refused to eat any supper.
"You must eat, mademoiselle," he told her. "Have you taken regularly the
tonic I prescribed?" She nodded, not considering it necessary to inform
him that she had carefully poured it, dose by dose, into the sink. For a
moment she thought of asking him what had become of Mr. Brooks, but she
feared to rouse his suspicions. "I'm feeling somewhat out of sorts," she
said. "I'll be all right in the morning."

"I am gratified to observe," he remarked, as she left him, "that you had
no tendency to walk in your sleep last night. I trust the improvement
will continue. Good-night." She could not determine whether or not there
lay any hidden meaning back of his words. His mirthless smile somehow
made her feel uncomfortable.

His words, however, inspir