replied Julius, becoming interested. "And I
done tol' 'em to come in quick."

"Did you know they were out there in the garden?"

"Yes, sar; I knowed it."

"Who told you they were there?"

"Nobody."

"Julius," said Marcy sternly, "I am going to know all about this. I
shall give you no peace until you answer every one of my questions, and
I shall begin by putting a grubbing-hoe into your hands at daylight in
the morning. Have you any more money in your pockets?"

"No, sar; I gib you de lastest I got."

"Then hurry off to bed and be ready to go to work when I call you."

"Well, sar, Marse Marcy," said the boy, plunging his hands into his
pockets and swinging himself about the room as if he was in no
particular hurry to go to bed, "if you wuk Julius till he plum dead you
can't make him tell what he don't know."

At this juncture a new actor appeared upon the scene. It was old Morris,
who had been in the hall for the last five minutes, waiting as patiently
as he could for Julius to give him an opportunity to speak to Marcy and
his mother in private. His patience was pretty well exhausted by this
time, and when he saw that Julius had no intention of going away until
he got ready, the coachman stepped into the room.

"See here, niggah," he began, and that was enough. Julius knew the old
man, and when the latter pointed to the door he lost no time in going
out of it. Morris followed him to the end of the hall and closed and
locked that door behind him, and then came back to the sitting-room. He
was badly frightened, and so excited that he hardly knew what he was
doing, but he was laughing all over.

"How is you, missus?" said he, as he shut the door and backed up against
it.

"Morris," exclaimed Mrs. Gray, "do you know who the robbers were?"

"No, missus, I don't; but I does know that they don't 'long around in
dis part of the country. That Cap'n Beardsley, he brung 'em up from
Newbern."

"Do you know what you are saying?" demanded Marcy. "Who told you that
improbable story?"

"G'long now, honey," answered Morris good-naturedly. "Mebbe de niggahs
all fools, but they know a heap. Marse Marcy, dat gal Nance didn't tell
no lie when she say how that Allison and Goodwin boy come to Miss
Brown's house and talk about de money, did she? And she didn't say no
lie nudder when she tol' me that these men coming up here some night to
get that money, did she? Aint they done been here dis night? What for
the cap'n and all