He was too ill ...

he could tell us nothing, but he was so excited by something ...

something he was in the middle of....

Who was it?
What was it?
I _must_ be there, hunt it out, find that I'm strong enough not to be afraid of _anything_." She suddenly dropped her voice, changing with sharp abruptness.

"And John?
He's not happy here, is he ?" "You should know," I answered, "better than any of us." "Why should I know ?" she replied, flaming out at me.