The water in the vase had dried up days ago, and the
flowers had dried up with it.
In this room and in all the others everything was arranged with order and
method, as if one were going away for a long time. Dick drew a chair
near the window, that he had opened slightly, and sat down. Much of
his fear for his mother disappeared. It was obvious that she and her
faithful attendant, Juliana, had gone, probably to be out of the track
of the armies or to escape plundering bands like Skelly's.
He wondered where she had gone, whether northward or southward. There
were many places that would gladly receive her. Nearly all the people in
this part of the state were more or less related, and with them the tie
of kinship was strong. It was probable that she would go north, or east.
She might have gone to Lexington, or Winchester, or Richmond, or even in
the hills to Somerset.
Well, he could not solve it. He was deeply disappointed because he had
not found her there, but he was relieved from his first fear that the
guerillas had come. He closed and fastened the window again, and then
walked all through the house once more.
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