possible.

"Did you, sir?" said she; and he remarked that while uttering the words,
she again colored deeply and did not raise her eyes to his face.

"Yes," he replied; "but he did not bear out what you said--he had no
pair of shoes in his bag."

"Did you see what he had in it, Master Hycy?"

"Why," said he, "a--hem--a--a--I didn't look--but I'll tell you what,
Nanny, I think you look as if you were in possession of some secret. I
say so, and don't imagine you can for a moment impose upon me. I know
what your father had in his bag."

"Well then, if you do, sir," she replied, "you know the saycrit."

"So there is a secret, then?"

"So you say, Masther Hycy."

"Nanny," he proceeded, "it occurs to me now that you never underwent a
formal examination about this robbery that took place in our house."

"That wasn't my fault," she replied; "I mostly happened to be out."

"Well, but do you know anything about it?"

"Not a thing--no more than yourself, Mr. Hycy."

Her interrogator turned upon her a hard scrutinizing glance, in which
it was easy to see that she read a spirit of strong and dissatisfied
suspicion. She was evidently conscious of this; for as Hycy stood gazing
upon her, she reddened, and betrayed unequivocal symptons of confusion.

"Because, Nanny," he proceeded, "if you knew anything about it, and
didn't mention it at once to the family, you would be considered as one
of the robbers."

"An' wouldn't I be nearly as bad if I didn't?" she replied; "surely the
first thing I'd do would be to tell."

"It's very strange," observed Hycy, "that such a robbery could be
committed in a house where there are so many servants, without any clue
whatsoever to a discovery."

"Well, I don't agree with you there, Mr. Hycy--if what your father and
mother an' all o' them say is true--that it wasn't often the hall-door
was bolted at night; and that they can't say whether it was fastened on
that night or not. Sure if it wasn't, there was nothing to prevent any
one from comin' in."

"Very true, Nanny," he replied, "very true; and we have paid severely
for our negligence."

This closed the conversation, but Hycy felt that, proceed from whatever
source it might, it was impossible to dismiss certain vague suspicions
as connected with the mendicant's daughter. He determined, however,
to watch her narrowly; and somehow he could not divest himself of the
impression that she saw through his design. This incident occurred a f