Effie listened, with her heart upon her lips, for him to come to the story of the mysterious patient. It was Aline, of course--Aline, ill or dying! How terrible it seemed! It cast a strange, new light upon the mystery of her disappearance. “I went with him; but I am quite sure that he deceived me regarding the distance,” said Dr. Anthony. “Instead of being two miles, I am certain that we drove five, at least, before his fleet-footed horse came to a stop. Then I was helped from the buggy, and led up a flight of what seemed, from the sound of my feet upon them, to be wide, marble steps.” CHAPTER XIV. The speaker paused to take breath a minute, and then resumed: “A heavy door opened to admit us into the wide, dimly lighted hallway of what must have been a large, aristocratic mansion. Here the eccentric stranger removed the handkerchief from my eyes and coolly clapped a mask upon my face instead, with the odd remark: “‘You will have need for your eyes here, but none for your features, Dr. Anthony, as I do not wish my patient ever to recognize you abroad. Therefore, I request that you wear this mask.’ “I acceded to this polite request of course, you know, Miss Rodney, not being in a condition to refuse,” said the young man, with a sly sense of the humorous, “and then I saw beside us a neat-looking elderly woman with a lamp in her hand, evidently a nurse. She led up a wide, beautiful stairway of polished walnut, along another hall, and so into a lady’s room--the most beautiful room I ever saw!” said Dr. Anthony, with enthusiasm. “It was large and airy, and hung with rich blue silk and white lace. The furniture was rosewood, upholstered in blue silk, and on the marble mantel and the ivory brackets against the wall were vases of flowers, statuettes, and expensive _bric-à-brac_. You see, I made good use of my eyes when I was given leave, Miss Rodney,” said the physician, with a smile. “Yes, doctor, but now about your mysterious patient?” breathed Effie, anxiously. “Yes, now I am coming to that, for I am afraid the preliminaries have sadly wearied your patience,” he said. “There was a rosewood bed in the center of the room, Miss Rodney, draped in rich blue silk and canopied with snowy lace in the richest pattern, and among the lace-trimmed pillows lay a girl--a corpse, I thought at first, for she was deathly white and still, her eyes were closed, and the white garments about her breast were all dabbled with blood.” Miss Rodney shuddered and grew very pale. “Oh, poor little Aline!” she sighed. “Tell me how she looked, Dr. Anthony.” “She was very young. She looked almost child-like,” said Dr. Anthony. “She had a fair round face with a dimpled chin and beautiful features. Her hair was dark and curling, her brows and lashes were jetty black and of wonderful beauty. Her eyes, much to my surprise when she recovered from her swoon, were dark, rich blue, like wet violets. I had thought they would be black, before she opened them.”