ty, a girl of seventeen! She found a
friend in an aged woman, to whom she told her story, every word of it,
Matthew Loring, and was received into the home as a daughter. That
home, all the wealth which made it magnificent, and the title which
had once belonged to her benefactress, became the property of your
brother's daughter before that daughter was twenty years old. Now, do
you comprehend why one woman has crossed the seas to help, if
possible, overthrow an institution championed by you? Now do you
comprehend my assurance that Captain Monroe is innocent? Now, dare you
contest my statement that one of the Loring family is a Federal
agent?"

"By God! I know you at last!" and he half arose from his chair as if
to strike her with both upraised shaking hands. "I--I'll have you tied
up and whipped until you shed blood for every word you've uttered
here! You wench! You black cattle! You--"

"Stop!" she said, stepping back and smiling at his impotent rage. "You
are in the house of Colonel McVeigh, and you are speaking to his
wife!"

He uttered a low cry of horror, and fell back in the chair, nerveless,
speechless.

"I thought you would be interested, if not pleased," she continued,
"and I wanted, moreover, to tell you that your sale of your brother's
child was one reason why your estate of Loringwood was selected in
preference to any other as a dowered home for free children--girl
children, of color! Your ancestral estate, Monsieur Loring, will be
used as an industrial home for such young girls. The story of your
human traffic shall be told, and the name of Matthew Loring execrated
in those walls long after the last of the Lorings shall be under the
sod. That is the monument I have designed for you, and the design will
be carried out whether I live or die."

He did not speak, only sat there with that horrible stare in his eyes,
and watched her.

"I shall probably not see you again," she continued, "as I leave for
Savannah in the morning, unless Colonel McVeigh holds his wife as a
spy, but I could not part without taking you into my confidence to a
certain extent, though I presume it is not necessary to tell you how
useless it would be for you to use this knowledge to my disadvantage
unless I myself should avow it. You know I have told you the truth,
but you could not prove it to any other, and--well, I think that is
all." She was replacing the book in the case when Gertrude entered
from the hall. Judithe only heard