hen she would have addressed him, with a
look he froze the words upon her lips. When he had eaten he looked at
his watch, and ordered a boy to bring his horse round to the door. He
waited until he saw his overseer coming toward the house, then sprang
into the saddle and rode down the lane, passing the overseer with a
nod.

Ten minutes later Dudley galloped back up the lane and sprang from his
panting horse. As he dashed up the steps he met the overseer coming
out of the house.

"You have not----"

"I have, sir, and well! The she-devil bit my hand to the bone, and
would have stabbed me if I hadn't got the knife away from her. You'd
better have the niggers look after her; she's shamming a fit."

Dudley was remorseful, and finding Viney unconscious, sent hastily for
a doctor.

"The woman has had a stroke," said that gentleman curtly, after an
examination, "brought on by brutal treatment. By G--d, Dudley, I
wouldn't have thought this of you! I own Negroes, but I treat them
like human beings. And such a woman! I'm ashamed of my own race, I
swear I am! If we are whipped in this war and the slaves are freed, as
Lincoln threatens, it will be God's judgment!"

Many a man has been shot by Southern gentlemen for language less
offensive; but Dudley's conscience made him meek as Moses.

"It was a mistake," he faltered, "and I shall discharge the overseer
who did it."

"You had better shoot him," returned the doctor. "He has no soul--and
what is worse, no discrimination."

Dudley gave orders that Viney should receive the best of care. Next
day he found, behind the clock, where she had laid it, the letter
which Ben Dudley, many years after, had read to Graciella on Mrs.
Treadwell's piazza. It was dated the morning of the previous day.

An hour later he learned of the death of his uncle, who had been
thrown from a fractious horse, not far from Mink Run, and had broken
his neck in the fall. A hasty search of the premises did not disclose
the concealed treasure. The secret lay in the mind of the stricken
woman. As soon as Dudley learned that Viney had eaten and drunk and
was apparently conscious, he went to her bedside and took her limp
hand in his own.

"I'm sorry, Viney, mighty sorry, I assure you. Martin went further
than I intended, and I have discharged him for his brutality. You'll
be sorry, Viney, to learn that your old Master Ralph is dead; he was
killed by an accident within ten miles of here. His body will be
br