"I asked his sister this afternoon. She said they had not."
They fell silent for a moment or two. Doctor West nibbled at his ham with a troubled air.
"There is one feature of the case I cannot approve of," he at length remarked "Of course the Shermans are poor, but I do not think Miss Sherman should have impaired Elsie"s chances, such as they are, from motives of economy."
"Impaired Elsie"s chances?" queried Katherine.
"And certainly she should not have done so without consulting me,"
continued Doctor West.
"Done what?"
"Oh, I forgot I had not had a chance to tell you. When I made my first call this morning I learned that Miss Sherman had discharged the nurse."
"Discharged the nurse?"
"Yes. During the night."
"But what for?"
"Miss Sherman said they could not afford to keep her."
"But with Elsie so dangerously sick, this is no time to economize!"
"Exactly what I told her. And I said there were plenty of friends who would have been happy to supply the necessary money."
"And what did she say?"
"Very little. She"s a silent, determined woman, you know. She said that even at such a time they could not accept charity."
"But did you not insist upon her getting another nurse?"
"Yes. But she refused to have one."
"Then who is looking after Elsie?"
"Miss Sherman."
"Alone?"
"Yes, alone. She has even discharged old Mrs. Murphy, who came in for a few hours a day to clean up."
"It seems almost incomprehensible!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Katherine. "Think of running such a risk for the sake of a few dollars!"
"After all, Miss Sherman isn"t such a bad nurse," Doctor West"s sense of justice prompted him to admit. "In fact, she is really doing very well."
"All the same, it seems incomprehensible!" persisted Katherine. "For economy"s sake----"
She broke off and was silent a moment. Then suddenly she leaned across the table.
"You are sure she gave no other reason?"
"None."
"And you believe her?"
"Why, you don"t think she would lie to me, do you?" exclaimed Doctor West.
"I don"t say that," Katherine returned rapidly. "But she"s shrewd and close-mouthed. She might not have told you the whole truth."
"But what could have been her real reason then?"
"Something besides the reason she gave. That"s plain."
"But what is it? Why, Katherine," her father burst out, half rising from his chair, "what"s the matter with you?"
Her eyes were glowing with excitement. "Wait! Wait!" she said quickly, lifting a hand.
She gazed down upon the table, her brow puckered with intense thought.
Her father and her aunt stared at her in gathering amazement, and waited breathlessly till she should speak.
After a minute she glanced up at her father. The strange look in her face had grown more strange.
"You saw no one else there besides Miss Sherman?" she asked quickly.
"No."
"Nor signs of any one?"
"No," repeated the bewildered old man. "What are you thinking of, Katherine?"
"I don"t dare say it--I hardly dare think it!"
She pushed back her chair and arose. She was quivering all over, but she strove to command her agitation.
"As soon as you"re through supper, father, I"ll be ready to go to Elsie."
"I"m through now."
"Come on, then. Let"s not lose a minute!"
They hurried out and entered the carriage which, at the city"s charge, stood always waiting Doctor West"s requirements. "To Mrs.
Sherman"s--quick!" Katherine ordered the driver, and the horse clattered away through the crisp November night.
Already people were streaming toward the centre of the town to share in the excitement of the campaign"s closing night. As the carriage pa.s.sed the Square, Katherine saw, built against the Court House and brilliantly festooned with vari-coloured electric bulbs, the speakers"
stand from which Blake and others of his party were later to address the final ma.s.s-meeting of the campaign.
The carriage turned past the jail into Wabash Avenue, and a minute afterward drew up beside the Sherman cottage. Pulsing with the double suspense of her conjecture and of her concern for Elsie"s life, Katherine followed her father into the sick chamber. As they entered the hushed room the spare figure of Miss Sherman rose from a rocker beside the bed, greeted them with a silent nod, and drew back to give place to Doctor West.