vice, as a man who was not to be trusted to
respect any letters or papers that happened to pass through his hands."

"I see, uncle! I see!"

"Plain enough now--isn't it? If that missing letter of Miss Silvester's
is a letter of no importance, I am inclined to believe that it is merely
lost, and may be found again. If, on the other hand, there is any thing
in it that could promise the most remote advantage to any person in
possession of it, then, in the execrable slang of the day, I will lay
any odds, Blanche, that Bishopriggs has got the letter!"

"And he has left the inn! How unfortunate!"

"Unfortunate as causing delay--nothing worse than that. Unless I am very
much mistaken, Bishopriggs will come back to the inn. The old rascal
(there is no denying it) is a most amusing person. He left a terrible
blank when he left my clerks' room. Old customers at Craig Fernie
(especially the English), in missing Bishopriggs, will, you may rely on
it, miss one of the attractions of the inn. Mrs. Inchbare is not a woman
to let her dignity stand in the way of her business. She and Bishopriggs
will come together again, sooner or later, and make it up. When I have
put certain questions to her, which may possibly lead to very important
results, I shall leave a letter for Bishopriggs in Mrs. Inchbare's
hands. The letter will tell him I have something for him to do, and will
contain an address at which he can write to me. I shall hear of him,
Blanche and, if the letter is in his possession, I shall get it."

"Won't he be afraid--if he has stolen the letter--to tell you he has got
it?"

"Very well put, my child. He might hesitate with other people. But I
have my own way of dealing with him--and I know how to make him tell
Me.--Enough of Bishopriggs till his time comes. There is one other
point, in regard to Miss Silvester. I may have to describe her. How
was she dressed when she came here? Remember, I am a man--and (if an
Englishwoman's dress _can_ be described in an Englishwoman's language)
tell me, in English, what she had on."

"She wore a straw hat, with corn-flowers in it, and a white veil.
Corn-flowers at one side uncle, which is less common than cornflowers in
front. And she had on a light gray shawl. And a _Pique;_--"

"There you go with your French! Not a word more! A straw hat, with a
white veil, and with corn-flowers at one side of the hat. And a light
gray shawl. That's as much as the ordinary male mind can take in; and