Part 38 (2/2)
”Another will!” she said. ”I may have lost everything, after all!
What in the world would become of Foster then--and Alice?”
”And yourself?” added Garrison.
”Oh, it doesn't make the least difference about me,” she answered in her bravery--bravery that made poor Garrison love her even more than before, ”but they all depend so much upon me! Tell me, please, what did you find out about Foster?”
”Not a great deal,” Garrison confessed. ”This new will business was my most important discovery. Nevertheless, I confirmed your story of a man whom your uncle greatly feared. His name, it seems, is Hiram Cleave.”
”That's the name! That's the man!” cried Dorothy. ”I remember now!
He once pinched my face till I cried.”
”You have seen him, then? What sort of a looking being is he?”
”I don't remember much--only the horrid grin upon his face. I was only a child--and that impressed me. You didn't hear anything of Foster?”
”Not of his whereabouts--quite a bit concerning his character, none of it particularly flattering.”
”I don't know where in the world he can be,” said Dorothy. ”Poor Alice! What are we going to do now, with all these new complications?”
”Do the best we can,” said Garrison. ”Aside from the will, and my work on the murder of your uncle, a great deal depends upon yourself, and your desires.”
Dorothy looked at him in silence for a moment. A slight flush came to her face.
She said: ”In what respect?”
Garrison had no intention of mincing matters now. He a.s.sumed a hardness of aspect wholly incompatible with his feelings.
”In respect to Mr. Fairfax,” he answered. ”He will doubtless return--dog your footsteps--make himself known to the Robinsons, and otherwise keep us entertained.”
She met his gaze as a child might have done.
”What can I do? I've depended so much upon you. I don't like to ask too much--after this--or ever---- You've been more than kind. I didn't mean to be so helpless--or to wound your feelings, or----”
A knock at the door interrupted, and Tuttle entered the room.
CHAPTER XXVIII
A HELPLESS SITUATION
Confused thus to find himself in the presence of Dorothy as well as Garrison, Tuttle s.n.a.t.c.hed off his hat and looked about him helplessly.
”How are you, Tuttle?” said Garrison. ”Glad to see you. Come back in fifteen minutes, will you? I want your report.”
”Fifteen minutes; yes, sir,” said Tuttle, and he backed from the place.
”Who was that?” said Dorothy. ”Anyone connected with the case?”
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