"
Laurel put her hand to her head as if to check its throbbing. Yes,
if it only would soon end!
"What happened?" asked Cora.
"He fell and struck his head on a rock," answered Laurel. "It was
that night we were in the hut. It was he who came walking along in
the darkness, and we thought it was some one else. He came to look
for me after I signaled that time. It was my father!"
"He slipped and fell," she resumed in a moment. "We heard him, you
remember, and then--then he went away--my poor father!"
Cora gasped in surprise. "Is he badly hurt?" she managed to ask.
"No, hardly at all. It was only a slight cut on his head, but the
shock of it brought him to him self--restored his reason that was
tottering. When he got up and staggered off his mind was nearly
clear, but he did not dare come to the hut where we were for fear it
might contain some of his enemies. He went looking for me, but I
had gone with you.
"Since then he has talked of matters he has not mentioned in years
and years. But he is not altogether better. Oh, Cora, if his mind
would only become strong again, so he could dear up all the
mystery!"
'The girls clung lovingly to each other. Then a moan from the hut
suddenly called Laurel away, Cora knew Jack was waiting for her in
the woods, and she hastened to him.
One whispered sentence to her brother was enough to explain it all
to him.
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