assed; the sun sank below the horizon, and still
there were no signs of Charlotte's return.

Feeling seriously uneasy, Mrs. Bowmore crossed the room to ring the
bell, and send the man-servant to Justice Bervie's house to hasten her
daughter's return.

As she approached the fireplace, she was startled by a sound of stealthy
footsteps in the hall, followed by a loud noise as of some heavy object
that had dropped on the floor. She rang the bell violently, and opened
the door of the parlor. At the same moment, the spy-footman passed her,
running out, apparently in pursuit of somebody, at the top of his speed.
She followed him, as rapidly as she could, across the little front
garden, to the gate. Arrived in the road, she was in time to see him
vault upon the luggage-board at the back of a post-chaise before the
cottage, just as the postilion started the horses on their way to
London. The spy saw Mrs. Bowmore looking at him, and pointed, with an
insolent nod of his head, first to the inside of the vehicle, and then
over it to the high-road; signing to her that he designed to accompany
the person in the post-chaise to the end of the journey.

Turning to go back, Mrs. Bowmore saw her own bewilderment reflected in
the faces of the two female servants, who had followed her out.

"Who can the footman be after, ma'am?" asked the cook. "Do you think
it's a thief?"

The housemaid pointed to the post-chaise, barely visible in the
distance.

"Simpleton!" she said. "Do thieves travel in that way? I wish my master
had come back," she proceeded, speaking to herself: "I'm afraid there's
something wrong."

Mrs. Bowmore, returning through the garden-gate, instantly stopped and
looked at the woman.

"What makes you mention your master's name, Amelia, when you fear that
something is wrong?" she asked.

Amelia changed color, and looked confused.

"I am loth to alarm you, ma'am," she said; "and I can't rightly see what
it is my duty to do."

Mrs. Bowmore's heart sank within her under the cruelest of all terrors,
the terror of something unknown. "Don't keep me in suspense," she said
faintly. "Whatever it is, let me know it."

She led the way back to the parlor. The housemaid followed her. The cook
(declining to be left alone) followed the housemaid.

"It was something I heard early this afternoon, ma'am," Amelia began.
"Cook happened to be busy--"

The cook interposed: she had not forgiven the housemaid for calling
her a simple