ay panting out his life in my arms had brought her
the ring which in Mr. Gryce's eyes had seemed to connect her with the
disappearance of young Mr. Chittenden.

XXXVI

AN HOUR OF STARTLING EXPERIENCES

Not till I was safely back in the Knollys grounds, not, indeed, till I
had put one or two large and healthy shrubs between me and a certain
pair of very prying eyes, did I bring the dove out from under my cape
and examine the poor bird for any sign which might be of help to me in
the search to which I was newly committed.

But I found nothing, and was obliged to resort to my old plan of
reasoning to make anything out of the situation in which I thus so
unexpectedly found myself. The dove had brought the ring into old Mother
Jane's hands, but whence and through whose agency? This was as much a
secret as before, but the longer I contemplated it, the more I realized
that it need not remain a secret long; that we had simply to watch the
other doves, note where they lighted, and in whose barn-doors they were
welcome, for us to draw inferences that might lead to revelations before
the day was out. If Deacon Spear--But Deacon Spear's house had been
examined as well as that of every other resident in the lane. This I
knew, but it had not been examined by me, and unwilling as I was to
challenge the accuracy or thoroughness of a search led on by such a man
as Mr. Gryce, I could not but feel that, with such a hint as I had
received from the episode in the hut, it would be a great relief to my
mind to submit these same premises to my own somewhat penetrating
survey, no man in my judgment having the same quickness of eyesight in
matters domestic as a woman trained to know every inch of a house and to
measure by a hair's-breadth every fall of drapery within it.

But how in the name of goodness was I to obtain an opportunity for this
survey. Had we not one and all been bidden to confine our attention to
what was going on in Mother Jane's cottage, and would it not be treason
to Lucetta to run the least risk of awakening apprehension in any
possibly guilty mind at the other end of the road? Yes, but for all that
I could not keep still if fate, or my own ingenuity, offered me the
least chance of pursuing the clue I had wrung from our imbecile neighbor
at the risk of my life. It was not in my nature to do so, any more than
it was in my nature to yield up my present advantage to Mr. Gryce
without making a personal effort to util