upon some great robbery; and that Squire Faggus knew it, though he would
not show his knowledge; and that this was perhaps the reason why mother
had refused it so.

We said no more about the necklace for a long time afterwards; neither
did my darling wear it, now that she knew its value, but did not know
its history. She came to me the very next day, trying to look cheerful,
and begged me if I loved her (never mind how little) to take charge of
it again, as I once had done before, and not even to let her know in
what place I stored it. I told her that this last request I could not
comply with; for having been round her neck so often, it was now a
sacred thing, more than a million pounds could be. Therefore it should
dwell for the present in the neighbourhood of my heart; and so could not
be far from her. At this she smiled her own sweet smile, and touched
my forehead with her lips, and wished that she could only learn how to
deserve such love as mine.

Tom Faggus took his good departure, which was a kind farewell to me,
on the very day I am speaking of, the day after his arrival. Tom was
a thoroughly upright man, according to his own standard; and you might
rely upon him always, up to a certain point I mean, to be there or
thereabouts. But sometimes things were too many for Tom, especially with
ardent spirits, and then he judged, perhaps too much, with only himself
for the jury. At any rate, I would trust him fully, for candour and
for honesty, in almost every case in which he himself could have no
interest. And so we got on very well together; and he thought me a fool;
and I tried my best not to think anything worse of him.

Scarcely was Tom clean out of sight, and Annie's tears not dry yet (for
she always made a point of crying upon his departure), when in came
Master Jeremy Stickles, splashed with mud from head to foot, and not in
the very best of humours, though happy to get back again.

'Curse those fellows!' he cried, with a stamp which sent the water
hissing from his boot upon the embers; 'a pretty plight you may call
this, for His Majesty's Commissioner to return to his headquarters in!
Annie, my dear,' for he was always very affable with Annie, 'will you
help me off with my overalls, and then turn your pretty hand to the
gridiron? Not a blessed morsel have I touched for more than twenty-four
hours.'

'Surely then you must be quite starving, sir,' my sister replied with
the greatest zeal; for she did love