it; nothing I so
like as to hear what women say, when they think no one hears them."

I suggested it was unfair, it might be his sisters' room. "It don't
matter," said he, "it's all in the family." He went to dinner, and then
back to his room. He at once got to the closet, undid his gun-case, and
taking out the gun-screw, tried to loosen the screws of the door, but
could not. Off he went to the village, came back with a screwdriver,
and with some labor opened the door. Then we found ourselves in another
empty place nearly as big, and at the end of it rough boards nailed
across a frame horizontally, and as we supposed covered over on the
other side. It evidently had been a passage, and when they separated the
house, they had screwed up the door into the room of which we did not
yet know the use, leaving the door at the end next Fred's room as it
was, and had fixed up some woodwork across the end of the passage, thus
making the large closet at one end, and the empty space at the other. We
were dusty with our job.

After breakfast next day, aunt, Fred and I went round to see his sister
and cousin. We saw their bedrooms accompanied by them and aunt. We were
in fact shown over the house. Fred had previously looked well at the
outside, to see how the windows ran. "What is that room which is shut
off?" "Oh!" said his sister, "that is a bath-room; look, such a nice
one." We entered it; it was the room up to which the passage at the back
of the closet led. Fred winked at me, and when we got back he roared.
"Oh! lord, we shall see them naked,--the boards have twisted, there are
cracks next the bath-room,--we'll run a knife between one, and through
the canvas and paper; then we will see through,--oho! ho! we shall see
the girls bathing,--there are two or three damned fine girls."

Had it been servants, I should have been delighted at a peep; but to rip
a hole to spy on young ladies, and one of those his sister, revolted me.
"Damn it Fred, it's not the thing, one is your own sister." "Pough! you
have seen their cunts." (It was not the two I had seen.) "Ah! those
were children." "Well ------ and ------ are only larger, and have hair
on their cunts, and you need not look." "But if we are found out, we are
disgraced; if it were at an hotel or elsewhere, I would not mind."
"It won't be found out." "They will see the crack in the paper." "They
won't, they will think it split by the boards warping, if they do;
besides there are cracks