er's early history. But he was not
successful. Neither did a like inspection of the widow's letters bring
any new facts to light. The only result which seemed to follow these
efforts was an increased certainty on his part that some dangerous
secret lurked in a past that was so determinedly hidden from the world,
and resorting to the only expedient now left to him, he resolved to
consult Miss Firman, as being the only person who professed to have had
any acquaintance with Mrs. Clemmens before she came to Sibley. To be
sure, she had already been questioned by the coroner, but Mr. Gryce was
a man who had always found that the dryest well could be made to yield a
drop or two more of water if the bucket was dropped by a dexterous hand.
He accordingly prepared himself for a trip to Utica.

XLIII.

MRS. FIRMAN.

Hark! she speaks. I will set down what comes from her....
Heaven knows what she has known.--MACBETH.

"MISS FIRMAN, I believe?" The staid, pleasant-faced lady whom we know,
but who is looking older and considerably more careworn than when we saw
her at the coroner's inquest, rose from her chair in her own cozy
sitting-room, and surveyed her visitor curiously. "I am Mr. Gryce," the
genial voice went on. "Perhaps the name is not familiar?"

"I never heard it before," was the short but not ungracious reply.

"Well, then, let me explain," said he. "You are a relative of the Mrs.
Clemmens who was so foully murdered in Sibley, are you not? Pardon me,
but I see you are; your expression speaks for itself." How he could have
seen her expression was a mystery to Miss Firman, for his eyes, if not
attention, were seemingly fixed upon some object in quite a different
portion of the room. "You must, therefore," he pursued, "be in a state
of great anxiety to know who her murderer was. Now, I am in that same
state, madam; we are, therefore, in sympathy, you see."

The respectful smile and peculiar intonation with which these last words
were uttered, robbed them of their familiarity and allowed Miss Firman
to perceive his true character.

"You are a detective," said she, and as he did not deny it, she went on:
"You say I must be anxious to know who my cousin's murderer was. Has
Craik Mansell, then, been acquitted?"

"A verdict has not been given," said the other. "His trial has been
adjourned in order to give him an opportunity to choose a new counsel."

Miss Firman motioned her visitor to be seat