sented with a courtesy to Uncle Silas, and a great hollow smile to
me.

By this time Uncle Silas had raised himself from his reclining posture, and
was sitting, gaunt and white, upon the sofa.

'News of my prodigal to-day,' he said, with a peevish smile, drawing the
newspaper towards him. 'The vessel has been spoken again. How many miles
away, do you suppose?'

He spoke in a plaintive key, looking at me, with hungry eyes, and a
horribly smiling countenance.

'How far do you suppose Dudley is to-day?' and he laid the palm of his hand
on the paragraph as he spoke. _Guess_!'

For a moment I fancied this was a theatric preparation to give point to the
disclosure of Dudley's real whereabouts.

'It was a very long way. Guess!' he repeated.

So, stammering a little and pale, I performed the required hypocrisy, after
which my uncle read aloud for my benefit the line or two in which were
recorded the event, and the latitude and longitude of the vessel at the
time, of which Madame made a note in her memory, for the purpose of making
her usual tracing in poor Milly's Atlas.

I cannot say how it really was, but I fancied that Uncle Silas was all
the time reading my countenance, with a grim and practised scrutiny; but
nothing came of it, and we were dismissed.

Madame loved shopping, even for its own sake, but shopping with
opportunities of peculation still more. She she had had her luncheon,
and was dressed for the excursion, she did precisely what I now most
desired--she proposed to take charge of my commissions and my money; and
thus entrusted, left me at liberty to keep tryst at the Chestnut Hollow.

So soon as I had seen Madame fairly off, I hurried Mary Quince, and got my
things on quickly. We left the house by the side entrance, which I knew my
uncle's windows did not command. Glad was I to feel a slight breeze, enough
to make the mill-sails revolve; and as we got further into the grounds,
and obtained a distant view of the picturesque old windmill, I felt
inexpressibly relieved on seeing that it was actually working.

We were now in the Chestnut Hollow, and I sent Mary Quince to her old point
of observation, which commanded a view of the path in the direction of the
Windmill Wood, with her former order to call 'I've found it,' as loudly as
she could, in case she should see anyone approaching.

I stopped at the point of our yesterday's meeting. I peered under the
branches, and my heart beat fast as I saw Meg Hawk