uble."

"But there is such a place there," I urged; "and, what is more, there is
some one hidden in it now. I saw him myself."

"_You_ saw him?"

"Saw a part of him; in short, saw his hand. He was engaged in scattering
crumbs for the pigeons."

"That does not look like starvation," smiled Mr. Gryce, with the first
hint of sarcasm he had allowed himself to make use of in this interview.

"No," said I; "but the time may not have come to inflict this penalty on
Silly Rufus. He has been there but a few days, and--well, what have I
said now?"

"Nothing, ma'am, nothing. But what made you think the hand you saw
belonged to Silly Rufus?"

"Because he was the last person to disappear from this lane. The
last--what am I saying? He wasn't the last. Lucetta's lover was the
last. Mr. Gryce, could that hand have belonged to Mr. Ostrander?"

I was intensely excited; so much so that Mr. Gryce made me a warning
gesture.

"Hush!" he whispered; "you are attracting attention. That hand _was_ the
hand of Mr. Ostrander; and the reason why I did not accept William
Knollys' suggestion to search the Deacon's barn-loft was because I knew
it had been chosen as a place of refuge by this missing lover of
Lucetta."

XXXVIII

A FEW WORDS

Never have keener or more conflicting emotions been awakened in my
breast than by these simple words. But alive to the necessity of hiding
my feelings from those about me, I gave no token of my surprise, but
rather turned a stonier face than common upon the man who had caused it.

"Refuge?" I repeated. "He is there, then, of his own free will--or
yours?" I sarcastically added, not being able to quite keep down this
reproach as I remembered the deception practised upon Lucetta.

"Mr. Ostrander, madam, has been spending the week with Deacon
Spear--they are old friends, you know. That he should spend it quietly
and, to a degree, in hiding, was as much his plan as mine. For while he
found it impossible to leave Lucetta in the doubtful position in which
she and her family at present stand, he did not wish to aggravate her
misery by the thought that he was thus jeopardizing the position on
which all his hopes of future advancement depended. He preferred to
watch and wait in secret, seeing which, I did what I could to further
his wishes. His usual lodging was with the family, but when the search
was instituted, I suggested that he should remove himself to that eyrie
back of the hay where you were