ears had been attending to their duty that day, and I
might have heard her sing too. But the walls between my house and that
of the Van Burnams are very thick, as I have had occasion to observe
more than once.

"Then she went up-stairs before you left?"

"To be sure, ma'am; what would she do in the kitchen?"

"And you didn't see her again?"

"No, ma'am; but I heard her walking around."

"In the parlors, you mean?"

"Yes, ma'am, in the parlors."

"You did not go up yourself?"

"No, ma'am, I had enough to do below."

"Didn't you go up when you went away?"

"No, ma'am; I didn't like to."

"When did you go?"

"At five, ma'am; I always go at five."

"How did you know it was five?"

"The kitchen clock told me; I wound it, ma'am and set it when the
whistles blew at twelve."

"Was that the only clock you wound?"

"Only clock? Do you think I'd be going around the house winding any
others?"

Her face showed such surprise, and her eyes met mine so frankly, that I
was convinced she spoke the truth. Gratified--I don't know why,--I
bestowed upon her my first smile, which seemed to affect her, for her
face softened, and she looked at me quite eagerly for a minute before
she said:

"You don't think so very bad of me, do you, ma'am?"

But I had been struck by a thought which made me for the moment
oblivious to her question. _She_ had wound the clock in the kitchen for
her own uses, and why may not the lady above have wound the one in the
parlor for hers? Filled with this startling idea, I remarked:

"The young lady wore a watch, of course?"

But the suggestion passed unheeded. Mrs. Boppert was as much absorbed in
her own thoughts as I was.

"Did young Mrs. Van Burnam wear a watch?" I persisted.

Mrs. Boppert's face remained a blank.

Provoked at her impassibility, I shook her with an angry hand,
imperatively demanding:

"What are you thinking of? Why don't you answer my questions?"

She was herself again in an instant.

"O ma'am, I beg your pardon. I was wondering if you meant the parlor
clock."

I calmed myself, looked severe to hide my more than eager interest, and
sharply cried:

"Of course I mean the parlor clock. Did you wind it?"

"O no, no, no, I would as soon think of touching gold or silver. But the
young lady did, I'm sure, ma'am, for I heard it strike when she was
setting of it."

Ah! If my nature had not been an undemonstrative one, and if I had not
been bred to a strong sense of s