es and seasons and the
generations of the sons of men. There you stand, miss, and here stand I,
as haven't seen your father for a score of years a'most; and yet there
comes out of your eyes into mine the very same look as the Captain used
to send, when snakes in the grass had been telling lies about me coming
late, or having my half pint or so on. Not that the Captain was a hard
man, miss--far otherwise, and capable of allowance, more than any of the
women be. But only the Lord, who doeth all things aright, could 'a made
you come, with a score of years atween, and the twinkle in your eyes
like--Selah!"

"You know what you mean, perhaps, but I do not," I answered, quite
gently, being troubled by his words and the fear of having tried to
hurry him; "but you should not say what you have said, Jacob Rigg, to
me, your master's daughter, if you only meant to be joking. Is this the
place to joke with me?"

I pointed to all that lay around me, where I could not plant a foot
without stepping over my brothers or sisters; and the old man, callous
as he might be, could not help feeling for--a pinch of snuff. This
he found in the right-hand pocket of his waistcoat, and took it very
carefully, and made a little noise of comfort; and thus, being fully
self-assured again, he stood, with his feet far apart and his head on
one side, regarding me warily. And I took good care not to say another
word.

"You be young," he said at last; "and in these latter days no wisdom is
ordained in the mouths of babes and sucklings, nor always in the mouths
of them as is themselves ordained. But you have a way of keeping your
chin up, miss, as if you was gifted with a stiff tongue likewise. And
whatever may hap, I has as good mind to tell 'e."

"That you are absolutely bound to do," I answered, as forcibly as I
could. "Duty to your former master and to me, his only child--and to
yourself, and your Maker too--compel you, Jacob Rigg, to tell me every
thing you know."

"Then, miss," he answered, coming nearer to me, and speaking in a low,
hoarse voice, "as sure as I stand here in God's churchyard, by all this
murdered family, I knows the man who done it!"

He looked at me, with a trembling finger upon his hard-set lips, and the
spade in his other hand quivered like a wind vane; but I became as firm
as the monument beside me, and my heart, instead of fluttering, grew as
steadfast as a glacier. Then, for the first time, I knew that God had
not kept me