man, nor ever did
since the day of our starting. Since I never set eyes on him before, I
could have had no impression to prejudice me against him. I admit that,
judging by physiognomy, any one may be mistaken; and I shouldn't have
allowed myself to be led by that. In this case, however, a circumstance
has contributed to shaping my judgment; in fact, deciding me in the
opinion, that your fellow Fernand is not only dishonest, but something
worse than a thief."

"Worse than a thief!" is the simultaneous echo from all sides of the
table, succeeded by a universal demand for explanation.

"Your words have a weighty sound, doctor," is Colonel Armstrong's way of
putting it. "We are anxious to hear what they mean."

"Well," responds Wharton, "you shall know why I've spoken them, and
what's led me to suspect this fellow Fernand. You can draw your own
conclusions, from the premises I put before you. Last night at a late
hour--near midnight--I took a fancy into my head to have a stroll
towards the river. Lighting a weed, I started out. I can't say exactly
how far I may have gone; but I know that the cigar--a long `Henry
Clay'--was burnt to the end before I thought of turning back. As I was
about doing so, I heard a sound, easily made out to be the footsteps of
a man, treading the firm prairie turf. As it chanced just then, I was
under a pecan-tree that screened me with its shadow; and I kept my
ground without making any noise.

"Shortly after, I saw the man whose footfall I had heard, and recognised
him as M. Dupre's head-servant. He was coming up the valley, toward the
house here, as if returning from some excursion. I mightn't have
thought much of that, but for noticing, as he passed me, that he didn't
walk erect or on the path, but crouchingly, among the trees skirting it.

"Throwing away the stump of my cigar, I set out after him, treading
stealthily as he. Instead of entering by the front, he went round the
garden, all the way to its rear; where suddenly I lost sight of him. On
arriving at the spot where he had disappeared, I saw there was a break
in the wall. Through that, of course, he must have passed, and entered
the mission-building at the back. Now, what are we to make of all
this?"

"What do you make of it, doctor?" asks Dupre.

"Give us your own deductions!"

"To say the truth, I don't know what deductions to draw, I confess
myself at fault; and cannot account for the fellow's movements; thoug