they found in your back kitchen this morning was enough to have
blown up all Witanbury sky high! Quite a good few don't think you knew
anything about it--and if you didn't, you've nothing to fear. You'll be
treated quite fair; so now you sit up, and make a good supper!"

She stared at him without speaking, and he went on: "You won't be having
this sort of grub in Darneford Gaol, you know!" As she again looked at
him with no understanding, he added by way of explanation: "After you've
been charged to-morrow, it's there they'll send you, I expect, to wait
for the Assizes."

"So?" she said stupidly.

"You just sit up and enjoy your supper! You needn't hurry over it. I
shan't be this way again for an hour or so." And then he went out and
shut the door.

For almost the first time in her life, Anna Bauer did not feel as if she
wanted to eat good food set before her. But she poured out a cup of
coffee, and drank it just as it was, black and bitter, without putting
either milk or sugar to it.

Then she stood up. The coffee had revived her, cleared her brain, and
she looked about her with awakened, keener perceptions.

It was beginning to get dark, but it was a fine evening, and there was
still light enough to see by. She looked up consideringly at the
old-fashioned iron gas bracket, placed in the middle of the ceiling,
just above the wooden chair on which her gracious lady had sat during
the last part of their conversation.

Anna took from the bench where she had been sitting the crochet in which
she had been interrupted.

She had lately been happily engaged in making a beautiful band of
crochet lace which was destined to serve as trimming for Mrs. Jervis
Blake's dressing-table. The band was now very nearly finished; there
were over three yards of it done. Worked in the best and strongest linen
thread, it was the kind of thing which would last, even if it were
cleaned very frequently, for years and years, and which would grow finer
with cleaning.

The band was neatly rolled up and pinned, to keep it clean and nice; but
now Anna slowly unpinned and unrolled it.

Yes, it was a beautiful piece of work; rather coarser than what she was
accustomed to do, but then she knew that Miss Rose preferred the coarser
to the very fine crochet.

She tested a length of it with a sharp pull, and the result was
wonderful--from her point of view most gratifying! It hardly gave at
all. She remembered how ill her mistress had succeede