s when she was lying on
her bed in her cell, and I went and laid the baby by her; that was just
before the water rushed in. I an't set eyes on _her face_ or the _baby's
face_ since."

And this was literally true, for Miss Tabby had not seen their _faces_
in the boat. But those who had not the key to her meaning, could not
detect the equivocation.

She was cunning enough in her foolishness to keep her oath, and to leave
upon the minds of her hearers the impression that Sybil and her young
child were certainly lost.

But Miss Tabby had a tender conscience as well as a soft heart and a
weak head, and the keeping of this secret, which she could not divulge
without breaking her oath, nor conceal without trifling with the truth,
caused her so much distress, that these frequent cross-examinations
invariably ended, on her part, in a fit of hysterics.

This was the state of affairs on Christmas Eve following the great
flood.

It was the saddest Christmas ever passed at Black Hall.

Mr. Berners had invited no one, not even his most intimate friends, to
spend it with him.

But Captain Pendleton and Beatrix had come uninvited, for they were
determined that Lyon Berners should not be left alone in his sorrow at
such a time.

"We have rejoiced with you in many a Christmas holiday. Shall we not
come and mourn with you now?" Beatrix gently inquired, as with her
brother she entered the parlor, where Mr. Berners on this Christmas Eve
was grieving alone.

He got up and welcomed his friends, and thanked them for their visit.

"I could not find it in my heart to invite any one, even you, true
souls; but I am _very, very_ glad you have come; though it is another
sacrifice on your parts."

"Not at all, Lyon Berners; we love you, and had rather come here and be
miserable with you than be merry with anybody else," said Clement
Pendleton warmly.

But Mr. Berners was resolved that his generous young friends should not
be as "miserable" as they were willing to be in the merry Christmas
season. So he wrote a note of invitation for two other guests, and
dispatched it by Joe to Blackville that very evening.

The note was addressed to Mr. Sheridan, with a request that he would
come, and bring his niece, Miss Minnie Sheridan, to meet Captain and
Miss Pendleton at dinner on Christmas-day, at Black Hall.

Now this Miss Minnie Sheridan was an orphan heiress, the daughter of the
young barrister's eldest brother. By the death of both her