ned
quickly into the room.

Croft had risen as if he were about to follow Mrs Null, or, at least, to
see where she had gone. But Aunt Patsy stopped him. "Jus' you stay h'yar
one little minute," she said, hurriedly. "I got one word to say to you,
sah." And she stood up before him as erect as she could, fixing her
great spectacles directly upon him. "You look out, sah, fur ole miss,"
she said, in a voice, naturally shrill, but now heavily handicapped by
age and emotion, "ole Miss Keswick, I means. She boun' to do you harm,
sah. She tole me so wid her own mouf."

"Mrs Keswick!" exclaimed Croft. "Why, you must be mistaken, good aunty.
She can have no ill feelings towards me."

"Don' you b'lieve dat!" said the old woman. "Don' you b'lieve one word
ob dat! She hate you, sah, she hate you! She not gwine to tell you dat.
She make you think she like you fus' rate, an' den de nex' thing you
knows, she kunjer you, an' shribble up de siners ob your legs, an' gib
you mis'ry in your back, wot you neber git rid of no moh'. Can't tell
you nuffin' else now, for h'yar comes Miss Annie," she added hurriedly,
and, stepping to the bedside, she drew from under the mattrass a pair of
little blue shoes, tied together by their strings. "Jes' you take dese
h'yar shoes," she said, "an' ef eber you think ole miss gwine ter kunjer
you, jes' you hol' up dem shoes right afore her face. Dar now, stuff 'em
in your pocket. Don' you tell Miss Annie wot I done say to you. 'Member
dat, sah. It ud kill her, shuh."

At this moment Mrs Null entered, just as the shoes had been slipped into
the side-pocket of Mr Croft's coat by the old woman. And as she did so,
she whispered, in a tone that could not but have its effect upon him,
"Now, nebber tell her, honey."

"Here is Eliza," said Mrs Null, as she came in, followed by the great
granddaughter. "And I think," she said to Mr Croft, "it is time for us
to go. Good-bye, Aunt Patsy. You can send back the basket by Eliza."

When the two left the cabin, Croft walked thoughtfully for a few
moments, wondering what in the world the old woman could have meant by
her strange words and gift to him. Concluding, however, that they could
have been nothing but the drivelings of weak-minded old age, he
dismissed them from his mind and turned his attention to his companion.
"We were speaking," he said, "of Mr Null. Do you expect him shortly?"

"Well, no," said the lady. "I can't say that I do."

"That is odd," said Lawre