mission, and meant to have no disrespect done to it.

"I am Mr. George McIntyre," the gentleman replied, and, indicating the
man at the door, "Mr. James McIntyre will be at liberty in a moment, but
perhaps I will do as well?"

Candace cocked a glance toward the elderly back at the door; and then
returned her look to Mr. George:

"You'll maybe be knowing Mr. Charles Stanhope?" she propounded, as if
she were giving him a riddle, and her blue eyes looked him through and
through:

"Oh, surely, surely! He was a very close friend! You--knew him?"

"I was Miss Betty's nurse who cooked the griddle cakes for you the
morning after the funeral----" she said, and waited with breathless
dignity to see how he would take it.

"Oh! Is that so!" He beamed on her kindly. "Yes, yes, I remember those
cakes. They were delicious! And what can I do for you? Just sit down.
Why, bless me, I don't know but that your coming may be very opportune!
Can you tell me anything of Miss Betty?"

Candace pressed her lips together with a knowing smile as much as to say
she might tell volumes if it were wise, and she cast a glance at the
other brother who was shaking hands now with his visitor and promising
to meet him a little later:

"Yon man'll be knowing a bit, too, I'll be thinking," she hazarded
nodding toward Reyburn as he left. "He was at the wedding, I'm most
sure----!"

The elder McIntyre gave her a quick glance and signalled to his brother
to come near:

"This is Miss Stanhope's nurse, the one who cooked breakfast for us at
the time of the funeral," he said, and to Candace, "This is Mr. James
McIntyre."

Candace fixed him with another of her inquisitive little glances:

"I've some bit papers put by that I thought ye might like to see," she
said with a cautious air. "I've kept them fer long because I thought
they might be wanted sometime, yet I've never dared bring them to your
notice before lest I would be considered meddlin', and indeed I wasn't
sure but you had them already. Will you please to look over them papers
and see if you've ever seen them before?" She drew forth an envelope
from her bag and handed it to them. "It's a bit letter that Mr. Stanhope
wrote the day he was dyin' an' then copied and give to me to mail, and
his lady took it away, sayin' she would attend to it. What I want to
know is, did ye ever get the letter? If ye did it's all right and none
of my business further, an' I'll go on my way back home again and thi