CHAPTER IX.

CONJECTURES.

"I'M sure that it is a perfect mystery to me what could have induced him to leave all the party here, to wander about in the rain and end by throwing himself into the river!" exclaimed Sophia Adair.

"Every act of the boy during the whole of the day has been incomprehensible," cried Rosa. "His wild looks in the morning when I met him, his late appearance at breakfast, his temper, his rudeness, he who was always courtesy itself to the ladies."

"He seemed in high spirits during the whole afternoon."

"Strange, uncertain, unnatural spirits. Did you notice the feverish flush on his check?"

"Has the doctor seen him?" asked John Allfrey, who joined the speakers at that moment.

"Yes, the doctor has been here for some time, but I have not yet heard his opinion. Such a bad business, is it not?" cried Sophia. "And just the night before the wedding! I suppose that the marriage will be put off!"

"Oh! I should not think so," said John; "a boy is not usually the worse for wetting."

"But he has been so long in coming to himself, and then—" Sophia lowered her voice and touched her forehead as she added, "it looks as if something were wrong with his head."

"I suspect that poor Mina thinks so," observed Rosa, "for she looks the picture of misery."

"And she was so happy," sighed Sophia.

"But I want to know everything that you saw, from beginning to end," cried Rosa, addressing John Allfrey. "You said that you first heard him getting over the garden-wall; what could have taken him to the garden?"

John only shrugged his shoulders in reply.

"And then down the field, through the hedge, and so straight on to the river. Do you think that the wretched boy really meant to throw himself in?"

"I don't think so," replied young Allfrey.

"Why, then, should he go to the river at all? There's no way of crossing it there."

John was quite aware of that fact.

"He could not fish in the dark; the idea of bathing is absurd. Could he wish to get anything out of the water?"

"You had better ask himself, when he is able to answer," said Allfrey, who grew more and more determined to let her know nothing of the roll.

"There goes the doctor," cried Rosa. "Oh! I wish that I had seen him before he went."

"Mina will tell us the news," said Sophia, as, pale with anxious watching, the bride-elect entered the room.

"He has come to himself, thank God!" said Mina. "The doctor is going to send him fever-draughts at once, for his pulse runs high. Dr. Penn says that we have nothing to fear; but I can't help being anxious—oh! so anxious! He is so dear a brother to me!"

"Has he said anything since he has revived?" asked the curious Rosa. "Does he seem conscious of all that has happened?"

"I scarcely know whether he is. He looks wildly around him, as if he were in search of something; he cries 'Where is it?—Where is it?' Like one who has lost what he prized very much. The doctor says that Wilfred should be kept very quiet, but our poor boy is so anxious to rise."

"He'll never get round while his mind is in this excited state," observed Rosa.

"I cannot stay away from him longer, though papa never leaves his bedside," said Mina, quitting the room as she spoke.

John Allfrey followed her into the hall, closing the door behind him.

"Miss Marsden—one word," said he.

Mina paused with her foot on the stair.

"When I drew your poor brother out of the water, he had a roll clenched so tight in his hand that I could hardly get it away." The young man drew forth the parchment. "If he is so restlessly looking for something, it seems likely that it may be this. I need scarcely add," said Allfrey, as he placed the roll in the maiden's hand, "that not a single word has been read."

"Oh! Mr. Allfrey," exclaimed Mina, with deep emotion, "you have done us a service to-night which we can never, never repay. You must have thought me the most ungrateful of beings, in my anxiety for my brother, never yet to have expressed my gratitude to his preserver."

John felt embarrassed at being thanked for what he thought so simple a matter as pulling a drowning boy out of the river; he muttered something about seeing whether the carriage had not come for his sisters, while Mina, with a throbbing heart, glided up to her brother's apartments.

As she entered the room with the roll in her hand, her father came forward to meet her, his finger raised to his lips.

"He sleeps," said Mr. Marsden, to his daughter; "I have sent Martha out of the room, for I wish to keep away all noise—anything that may cause excitement." He resumed the seat which he had quitted; Mina knelt at his side.

"Father," she softly whispered, "you should know everything; you will judge what is right. Mr. Allfrey has just given me this parchment, he took it out of poor Wilfred's grasp when he had drawn him out of the water. It may be something of importance, it may be the cause of the restless uneasiness which alarms us so much to-night."

The father took the roll with the keenest interest.

"Thankful, most thankful should I be," he said, "to discover any sufficient cause for the conduct of my poor boy."

"Will you examine the parchment, papa?"

Mr. Marsden remained for several moments buried in thought before he replied, "Perhaps it would be better not to do so; perhaps it may quiet Wilfred's mind to be assured that no one is in possession of his secret, if a secret there be."

"Then what would you have us do?"

"Place the roll within his reach, my child; if it be that for which he so anxiously inquires, the sight of it cannot but soothe him. And now that you are here to watch, I will go down and dismiss our guests. I fervently trust that the worst is over, and I fain would have the house quiet."

Noiselessly Mr. Marsden left the sick-room; noiselessly Mina approached the bed, and, as she laid the will upon it, tenderly gazed on the sleeping boy. What sad traces had the sufferings of the last twenty-four hours left on that pale young face! Even in sleep it wore an expression of distress, which went to the heart of Mina. She knelt down beside the bed, and clasping her hands together, long, and fondly, and fervently prayed to a merciful God for her brother. Mina approached the Throne of Grace with the same trustful, childlike confidence with which she had come to her earthly father. The maiden's heart felt soothed and calmed by the act of devotion; as she rose, more full of hope that this strange, mysterious cloud of sorrow on her bright sky would pass away, she looked at her brother and saw that his eyes were wide open, and lovingly fixed on herself.

"You were praying for me," he murmured, and a deep sigh followed the words.

"And God has answered my prayer already," she replied, thankful to see him so collected.

At that moment Wilfred's glance fell on the roll beside him. With almost a cry of surprise, he grasped it in feverish haste.

"How came this here?" he exclaimed.

"I put it there," answered Mina.

"You—you! Have you read it?" gasped Wilfred, half raising himself in his bed.

"No, no one has read it," said Mina.

An expression of unutterable relief came over the features of Wilfred; he hid the parchment under his pillow, and then, in a calmer voice, asked his sister where she had found the roll.

"John Allfrey found it—but he did not look into it," added Mina, quickly, for she saw that her first sentence had re-awakened her brother's fears.

"You are sure of that?"

"Quite sure," she replied.

"But how came Allfrey to be near me?"

The question was asked in a tone so rational that Mina's hope rose yet higher.

"I can hardly tell you," she answered; "I think that our merciful God must have sent him to the river to preserve so precious a life."

"It was strange, indeed!" murmured Wilfred.

"But you must think of nothing now, dearest, to perplex, excite, or distress you. You must just remain quiet and still, and let us nurse and take care of you. Ah! Here comes papa with the fever-draught. He will be so thankful to find you better."

Mina poured out the cooling drink, and gave it to her brother; he drank it, and felt refreshed.

"Is it late?" he abruptly asked. "Have the Allfreys left the house?"

"They have just gone," replied Mr. Marsden, "and Sophia and Rosa have retired to their rooms."

"And so must our bride," said Wilfred; "I cannot endure to see her looking so pale and wan, and with those red marks under her eyes. What a torment I have been to you all! Mina must rest and get strength for to-morrow—for her wedding-day," he added.

"Not my wedding-day, if you are ill. I could not leave you thus," said Mina.

"What! Delay your happiness for me! That would indeed be more than I could bear. I shall be all right to-morrow," said Wilfred, raising himself in the bed. "I am only tired and chilled. I shall be at the wedding, or, if not, John Allfrey can take my place. It would put me into a fever if any change were made on my account."

Mr. Marsden saw that Wilfred was thoroughly in earnest; and his own mind being greatly relieved, he readily promised that if his son were no worse in the morning, no change should be made in the wedding arrangements. He bade Mina go to rest, gave her his paternal blessing, but proposed himself to pass the remainder of the night in the chamber of his boy. Against this latter part of the arrangement, Wilfred expostulated in vain.