Your sister is in the sitting-room." Austin Turold brushed past the doctor and opened the door of the lighted room.

At his entrance Mrs.Pendleton sprang from her seat to greet him.
Grief and horror were in her look, but surprise contended with other emotions in Austin's face.

She kissed him with clinging hands on his shoulders.
"Oh, Austin," she cried, "Robert is dead--killed!" "The news has shocked me to the last degree," responded her brother.

"What has happened?
Did somebody send for you?
Is that what brought you here ?" Mrs.Pendleton shook her head, embarrassed in her grief.

She remembered that she wished to keep the object of her visit secret from her younger brother, and she could not very well disclose the truth then.
"Not exactly," she replied, a trifle incoherently.