ing a clear avoidance of his society. And the
second matter was in connection with the Burn School. This work had
been the chief thought of her life before her illness, but upon her
recovery she refused to visit the place, would walk or ride far around
by the Dead Man's Holm to avoid meeting in with either teachers or
pupils; and when Father Michel brought work to her to have it examined
she would overlook it listlessly, and put it by immediately on his
departure, to be referred to no more. I knew more of the reasons for
this conduct than she suspected, her talk in the fever being all of one
thing, and the intuition of my love helping me far in discovering the
truth. I believed that McMurtrie had learned some matters as well as
myself, for twice, when he was telling me something concerning her, he
broke off with entire irrelevancy to say: "The little deevil; the
plucky little deevil!" with tears in his eyes, and ending with, "God!
I'd like to tell Pitcairn," and a roar of laughter.

More than a year had gone by before her color and brightness came back
to her, and one gay spring morning, when the "Nanciness" of her had
shown itself by some audacious rejoinder, I ventured on a remark, which
I hoped would lead to an open talk with me, concerning the affair of
the trial.

"Nancy," said I, with nothing but the impulse of the moment to guide
me, "would a child of mine commit a forgery?"

She looked up at me quickly, as though to judge my intention, before
she answered, "A child of yours did."

"But you were too little to know the force of your conduct then," I
continued. "Would a child of mine do such a thing now?"

A curious gleam passed over her face before she answered, looking
straight into my eyes as she did so, "Don't worry about that, Jock,"
she said; "she didn't have to!"

"We will suppose," she went on, with an exact imitation of Pitcairn,
"only suppose, you understand, that a bit of evidence was needed in a
certain trial to clear one who was very dear; and we will suppose, only
suppose, you remember, that there was a girl who had skill enough to
seem to obtain it. We will suppose, still, that the girl said to
herself, 'If I am on the other side from the great Pitcairn, I shall
have no chance against his cross-examination, but if I seem to be on
his own side he may be thrown from his guard, and I may suggest the
questioning I want followed.' Take the testimony!" she cried, in her
natural voice, rising and sta