She had left her car and was walking back along the road with us
toward the broken fence. Garrick had been talking to her earnestly
and now, having introduced her to Dr. Mead, the doctor and he
decided to climb down to inspect the wrecked car itself in the
ravine below.

Miss Winslow cast a quick look from the broken fence down at the
torn and twisted wreckage of the car and gave a suppressed little
cry and shudder.

"How is Mortimer?" she asked of me eagerly, for I had agreed to
stay with her while the others went down the slope. "I mean how is
he really? Is he likely to be better soon, as Mr. Garrick said
over the telephone?" she appealed.

"Surely--absolutely," I assured her, knowing that if Garrick had
said that he had meant it. "Miss Winslow, believe me, neither Mr.
Garrick nor Dr. Mead is concealing anything. It is pretty bad, of
course. Such things are always bad. But it might be far worse. And
besides, the worst now has passed."

Garrick had already promised to accompany her over to Dr. Mead's
after he had made his examination of the wrecked car to confirm
what the doctor had already observed. It took several minutes for
them to satisfy themselves and meanwhile Violet Winslow, already
highly unstrung by the news from Garrick, waited more and more
nervously.

In spite of his careful examination of the wrecked car, Garrick
found practically nothing more than Dr. Mead had already told him.