"
Mr. Voss felt that there was evasion in the answer.
"Archie is young, and not used to wine. A single glass would be more
to him than half a dozen to older men who drink habitually. Did you
see him take wine often?"
"He was in the supper-room for a considerable time. When I left it,
I saw him in the midst of a group of young men and girls, all with
glasses of champagne in their hands."
"How long was this before you saw him go away?"
"Half an hour, perhaps," replied the doctor.
"Did he go out alone?"
"I believe so."
Mr. Voss questioned no further, and Doctor Angler, who now
understood better the meaning of his patient's condition, set
himself to the work of restoring her to consciousness. He did not
find the task easy. It was many hours before the almost stilled
pulses began beating again with a perceptible stroke, and the quiet
chest to give signs of normal respiration. Happily for the poor
mother, thought and feeling were yet bound.
Long before this the police had been aroused and every effort made
to discover a trace of the young man after he left the house of Mr.
Birtwell, but without effect. The snow had continued falling until
after five o'clock, when the storm ceased and the sky cleared, the
wind blowing from the north and the temperature falling to within a
few degrees of zero.
A faint hope lingered with Mr. Voss--the hope that Archie had gone
home with some friend.
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