Hugh shook his head in the negative.

“Never a word as yet, Thad.  Fact is, Doctor Cadmus says she mustn’t be worried by questions for several days, possibly.”

“Then she’s still wandering in her mind, is she, Hugh?”

“Yes, and saying all sorts of things about her girlhood days, as well as about her husband, who, mother thinks, must have come to his death in some accident.  She calls him Joey, too, just like the boy.  It must be a family name, we imagine.  So mother is content to wait until she is better, when she will tell all she wants us to know.”

“Then you didn’t bother taking that wise tip I gave you, Hugh?” and Thad’s voice had a little ring of disappointment about it.

“Oh!  I was up early this morning, and, as the road out there seemed so hard and firm, the snow being packed down solid, I just jumped on my wheel, and took a little run up in that direction.  It wasn’t so easy, once I struck in on that side road, but I managed to pedal along somehow.”

“There are a number of houses on that road, I chance to know, Hugh; the Simms live there, likewise the Thompsons and the Garrabrants.”

“I managed to reach those three houses,” Hugh continued; “but it didn’t pay me, so far as results went, though I enjoyed the run all right.”

“From that I imagine nobody had seen the woman and child yesterday afternoon coming along that particular road, eh, Hugh?”

“No one could remember having met or seen such a person,” Hugh told him; “and as strangers are uncommon in these parts they would surely have noticed her if she passed their doors.  So I came to the conclusion, as I couldn’t even find the marks of her shoes in the snow along the road, that she must have come over from Belleville way, and was in the woods at the time I first went by, which would account for my not meeting her.”

“To change the subject, Hugh, I notice that Nick still fights shy of the rest of the crowd these days.  He was skating on the ice to-day; but absolutely declined to take part in the game; though Mr. Leonard, wanting to make the opposition as strong as possible so as to put us to our best licks, went over and talked with him, trying to coax Nick to join the line-up.  What makes him act that way, Hugh?  One would think Nick’d be glad of the chance to play.”

“He would, Thad, he certainly would, because he enjoys hockey as much as you or myself; but I reckon Nick, for the first time in all his life, finds himself afflicted with shyness.  You see, he knows people don’t, as a rule, believe in this sudden reformation.  They can’t have any faith in a fellow who’s fooled them so often before.  And that makes him want to keep away.  Nick is fighting it out all by himself.  If we knew all the wonderful things that he’s grappling with these days I imagine we’d sympathize with the poor fellow, Thad.”

“Hugh, you may be right.  Already I’m beginning to feel sorry for saying some of the mean things I did when first we guessed Nick was trying to turn over a new leaf.  It must be terrible hard for a boy who’s always been bad to change around and face the other way.”