judging from
her letter?"

"Yes."

"Did she ever make use of his services before?"

"No."

"Might she not have done so?"

"I don't see how. No occasion ever arose."

"Why, then, did she think him so trustworthy, do you suppose?"

"Why, I suppose because he had been known to us so long, and had been
apparently a humble, devoted, and industrious man. We were quite
solitary always. We had no friends, and so I suppose she thought of
him. It would have been quite as likely, if I were in her situation,
that I would have done the same--that is, if I had her cleverness."

"Your sister is clever, then?"

"Very clever indeed. She has always watched over me like a--like a
mother," said Zillah, while tears stood in her eyes.

"Ah!" said the chief; and for a time he lost himself in thought.

"How many years is it," he resumed, "since your father died?"

"About five years."

"How long was this Gualtier with you before his death?"

"About six months."

"Did your father ever show any particular confidence in him?"

"No. He merely thought him a good teacher, and conscientious in his
work. He never took any particular notice of him."

"What was your father?"

"A landed gentleman."

"Where did he live?"

"Sometimes in Berks, sometimes in London," said Zillah, in general
terms. But the chief did not know any thing about English geography,
and did not pursue this question any further. It would have resulted
in nothing if he had done so, for Zillah was determined, at all
hazards, to guard her secret.

"Did you ever notice Gualtier's manner?" continued the chief, after
another pause.

"No; I never paid any attention to him, nor ever took any particular
notice of any thing about him. He always seemed a quiet and
inoffensive kind of a man."

"What do you think of him now?"

"I can scarcely say what. He is a villain, of course; but why, or
what he could gain by it, is a mystery."

"Do you remember any thing that you can now recall which in any way
looks like villainy?"

"No, not one thing; and that is the trouble with me."

"Did he ever have any quarrel of any kind with any of you?"

"Never."

"Was any thing ever done which he could have taken as an insult or an
injury?"

"He was never treated in any other way than with the most scrupulous
politeness. My father, my sister, and myself were all incapable of
treating him in any other way."

"What was your sister's usual manner toward him?"

"Her manner?