be one? Is there any place for one? I don't see
any place. There is the open place where the books are kept, and, on
each side, a row of drawers. No; there are no secret drawers here.
But see--what is this?"

As Zillah said this she reached out her hand toward the lower part of
the place where the books were kept. A narrow piece of wood projected
there beyond the level face of the back of the desk. On this piece of
wood there was a brass catch, which seemed intended to be fastened;
but now, on account of the projection of the piece, it was not
fastened. Zillah instantly pulled the wood, and it came out.

It was a shallow drawer, not more than half an inch in depth, and the
catch was the means by which it was closed. A bit of brass, that
looked like an ornamental stud, was, in reality, a spring, by
pressing which the drawer sprang open. But when Zillah looked there
the drawer was already open, and, as she pulled it out, she saw it
all.

As she pulled it out her hand trembled, and her heart beat fast. A
strange and inexplicable feeling filled her mind--a kind of
anticipation of calamity--a mysterious foreboding of evil--which
spread a strange terror through her. But her excitement was strong,
and was not now to be quelled; and it would have needed something
far more powerful than this vague fear to stop her in the search into
the mystery of the desk.

When men do any thing that is destined to affect them seriously, for
good or evil, it often happens that at the time of the action a
certain unaccountable premonition arises in the mind. This is chiefly
the case when the act is to be the cause of sorrow. Like the wizard
with Lochiel, some dark phantom arises before the mind, and warns of
the evil to come. So it was in the present case. The pulling out of
that drawer was an eventful moment in the life of Zillah. It was a
crisis fraught with future sorrow and evil and suffering. There was
something of all this in her mind at that moment; and, as she pulled
it out, and as it lay before her, a shudder passed through her, and
she turned her face away.

"Oh, Hilda, Hilda!" she murmured. "I'm afraid--"

"Afraid of what?" asked Hilda. "What's the matter? Here is a
discovery, certainly. This secret drawer could never have been
suspected. What a singular chance it was that you should have made
such a discovery!"

But Zillah did not seem to hear her. Before she had done speaking she
had turned to examine the drawer. There wer