lady could do by admitting the original statement to be a true one. This
honesty would take the wind out of Mrs Pansey's sails, and prevent her
from distorting an admitted fact into a fiction of hinted wickedness.
Furthermore, Miss Whichello was prepared to give Cargrim a sufficient
reason for her visit, so that he might not invent one. Only by so open a
course could she keep the secret of her thirty-year-old acquaintance
with the dead man. As a rule, the little old lady hated subterfuge, but
in this case her only chance of safety lay in beating Pansey, Cargrim
and Company with their own weapons. And who can say that she was acting
wrongly?

'Yes, Mr Cargrim,' she repeated, looking him directly in the face, 'Mrs
Pansey is right. I was at the dead-house and I went to see the corpse of
the man Jentham. I suppose you--and Mrs Pansey--wonder why I did so?'

'Oh, my dear lady!' remonstrated the embarrassed chaplain, 'by no means;
such knowledge is none of our business--that is, none of _my_
business.'

'You have made it your business, however!' observed Miss Whichello,
dryly, 'else you would scarcely have informed me of Mrs Pansey's
unwarrantable remarks on my private affairs. Well, Mr Cargrim, I suppose
you know that this tramp attacked my niece on the high road.'

'Yes, Miss Whichello, I know that.'

'Very good; as I considered that the man was a dangerous character I
thought that he should be compelled to leave Beorminster; so I went to
The Derby Winner on the night that you met me, in order to--'

'To see Mrs Mosk!' interrupted Cargrim, softly, hoping to entrap her.

'In order to see Mrs Mosk, and in order to see Jentham. I intended to
tell him that if he did not leave Beorminster at once that I should
inform the police of his attack on Miss Arden. Also, as I was willing to
give him a chance of reforming his conduct, I intended to supply him
with a small sum for his immediate departure. On that night, however, I
did not see him, as he had gone over to the gipsy camp. When I heard
that he was dead I could scarcely believe it, so, to set my mind at
rest, and to satisfy myself that Mab would be in no further danger from
his insolence when she walked abroad, I visited the dead-house and saw
his body. That, Mr Cargrim, was the sole reason for my visit; and as it
concerned myself alone, I wore a veil so as not to provoke remark. It
seems that I was wrong, since Mrs Pansey has been discussing me.
However, I hope you wil