o you?"

"A friend."

"Was it your--a relative?" cried the man, in a hoarse whisper.

"No, it was simply a friend."

"Tell me who!"

Edith thought a moment. If she should tell Mr. Goddard that the
shamrock had been given to her by the housekeeper, it might subject
the woman to an unpleasant interview with the master of the house,
and, perhaps, place her in a very awkward position.

She resolved upon the only course left--that of refusing to reveal the
name of the giver.

"All that I can tell you, Mr. Goddard," she gravely said, at last, "is
that the chain and ornament were given to me very recently by an aged
friend--"

"Aged!" the man interposed, eagerly.

"Yes, by a person who must be at least sixty years of age," the young
girl replied.

"Ah!" The ejaculation was one of supreme relief. "Excuse me, Miss
Allen!" he continued, in a more natural manner than he had yet spoken.
"I did not mean to be curious, but--a--a person whom I once knew had
an ornament very similar to the one you wear--"

He was interrupted just at this point by the sound of a rich, mellow
laugh that echoed down the hall like a strain of sweetest music;
whereupon Gerald Goddard jumped as if some one had dealt him a heavy
blow on the back.

"Good Heaven! who was that?" he cried, with livid lips.

But Edith, taking advantage of the diversion, glided swiftly from the
room, telling herself that nothing could induce her to dwell with the
family a single day after their return to the city, and that she would
take care not to come in contact with Mr. Goddard again--at least to
be alone with him--while she did remain with his wife.

The man stood motionless for a moment after her departure, as if
waiting for the sound, which had so startled him, to be repeated.

But it was not, and going to the door, he peered into the hall to see
who was there.

There was no one visible save the housekeeper, who just at that
moment, accosted a housemaid, to whom she appeared to be giving some
directions.

"Ah! it was only one of the guests," he muttered, "but the voice was
wonderfully like--like--Ugh!"

He waited a few moments longer, trying to compose his nerves, which
had been sadly unstrung, both by the wine he had drank in much larger
quantities than usual, and the incidents that had just occurred, and
then sought his own room, where he rang for a brandy-and-soda, and
after taking it, went below to attend to his duties as host.

But neither he