Loss of blood
weakened him and he soon fell exhausted upon the bed. To make the
story even shorter than Prince Ugo made it, not a word was said about
the jewels, and that, after all, is the only feature of the case in
which we are interested.
Barnes smiled grimly over Ugo's failure to mention the jewels, and the
misleading description of the thief. He was thankful, however, and
relieved to learn that the one man who might recognise Miss Cameron
was not likely to leave the hospital short of a week's time.
No time was lost by the Countess in getting word to her compatriots in
New York. Barnes posted a dozen letters for her; each contained the
tidings of her safety and the assurance that she would soon follow in
person.
Those three days and nights were full of joy and enchantment for
Barnes. True, he did not sleep very well,--indeed, scarcely at all,--
but it certainly was not a hardship to lie awake and think of her
throughout the whole of each blessed night. He recalled and secretly
dilated upon every sign of decreasing reserve on her part. He shamed
himself more than once for deploring the fact that her ankle was
mending with uncommon rapidity, and that in a few days she would be
quite able to walk without support.
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