s she inspected him with greater
attention along the blueblack barrel of her automatic. Unless he made a
dash for liberty this extraordinary woman would, at her leisure, turn him
over to the police as a housebreaker and his peaceful life as a chicken
farmer would be at an end. Her prolonged silence troubled The Hopper. He
had not been more nervous when waiting for the report of the juries which
at times had passed upon his conduct, or for judges to fix his term of
imprisonment.

"Yes'm," he muttered, with a view to ending a silence that had become
intolerable.

Her eyes danced to the accompaniment of her thoughts, but in no way did
she betray the slightest perturbation.

"I ain't done nothin'; hones' to God, I ain't!" he protested brokenly.

"I saw you through the window when you entered this room and I was
watching while you read that note," said his captor. "I thought it funny
that you should do that instead of packing up the silver. Do you mind
telling me just why you read that note?"

"Well, miss, I jes' thought it kind o' funny there wuzn't nobody round an'
the letter was layin' there all open, an' I didn't see no harm in
lookin'."

"It was awfully clever of you to crawl into the corner so nobody could see
your light from the windows," she said with a tinge of admiration. "I
suppose you thought you might find out how long the people of the house
were likely to be gone and how much time you could spend here. Was that
it?"

"I reckon ut wuz some thin' like that," he agreed.

This was received with the noncommittal "Um" of a person whose thoughts
are elsewhere. Then, as though she were eliciting from an artist or man of
letters a frank opinion as to his own ideas of his attainments and
professional standing, she asked, with a meditative air that puzzled him
as much as her question:--

"Just how good a burglar are you? Can you do a job neatly and safely?"

The Hopper, staggered by her inquiry and overcome by modesty, shrugged his
shoulders and twisted about uncomfortably.

"I reckon as how you've pinched me I ain't much good," he replied, and was
rewarded with a smile followed by a light little laugh. He was beginning
to feel pleased that she manifested no fear of him. In fact, he had
decided that Shaver's mother was the most remarkable woman he had ever
encountered, and by all odds the handsomest. He began to take heart.
Perhaps after all he might hit upon some way of restoring Shaver to his
proper place