distracted with what has happened. Tell us all about the clothes."

"I couldna say what clothes he had on. I was ower muckle fashed at the time to notice onything o' the kind. But let me tell ye, Girzie, that my man had nae mair ado wi' this wicked wark nor ye had yoursel'."

Girzie laughed a harsh mocking laugh.

"Wha do ye think had to do wi't syne?"

"Speir at the Laird there, whase guilty conscience keeps him trembling like a strae in the wind. He kens wha did it and how it was done."

"Him!" shrieked Girzie.

"Aye, him. Do ye no see the guilt o't in his face ? ”

And true enough there was a ghastly terror expressed on his sallow visage as he rose to his feet, his lips moving as if he were about to offer some defence, but no sound coming from them.

Girzie strode up to him, griped his arm savagely, and glared at him.

"Is this your wark?" she said hoarsely, dragging him close to the coffin.

It was a critical moment for him: Jeanie and the lawyer were watching him; and Girzie was noting every quiver of his features. But as if the enormity of the charge brought against him had restored all his cunning wits to their proper balance, he suddenly became the most collected person in the

room.

"Mr. Carnegie," he said quietly, “would ye oblige me by crying up some o' my loons till we get this woman taken care of. She's no fit to be at liberty, that's clear; and as for Mrs. Gray, she's either losing her senses too, or she's been very much misled by her suspicions."

"Is this your wark?" repeated Girzie darkly. "Has the father's hand taen the bairn's life, and is the sin committed sae lang syne to be brought hame to us at last in this awfu’ way ?"

66 'I'm sorry for ye, Girzie, and I can excuse ye a heap on

account o' the wrang I did ye; but I would hae made amends for it if you would hae allowed me. But we'll let that pass, and I'll answer your question just because I'm sorry for ye, and would satisfy you if I could. I had nae hand in this dreadful deed."

He spoke with so much meekness, and with such an air of sorrow for the bereaved mother whilst admitting the truth of her previous statement, that it seemed impossible to doubt him. Even Jeanie was staggered.

Girzie with some dim recollection of the old superstitious test of a suspected murderer's innocence by causing him to touch the body of the victim, when, if guilty, the blood flowed afresh, but if innocent there was no change-released his arm, and said sternly

"Place your hand on his breast, and swear before Heaven that ye had nocht ado wi' this by thocht, or word, or deed." A scarcely perceptible shudder passed over him, but he instantly complied.

"To please ye, Girzie, I'll do that, though it's a ridiculous thing even to want me to do't. There, my hand is on his breast, puir lad, and I had nothing to do with his misfortune. I declare it solemnly, as I hope for mercy."

There was a brief silence, through which only [the heavy breathing of Girzie was heard. Her eyes were fixed upon him with a wild stare, marking how much she would have liked [to believe, and yet how much she doubted even this solemn declaration.

"Aye, ye can say that about Wattie Todd," broke in Jeanie, passionately; "but ye couldna and ye daurna hae said if it had been Jeamie Falcon that was lying there."

"And why no, Mistress Gray? Why would I no hae daured to deny this ridiculous charge if it had been Falcon that lay there? Falcon, the puir friendless bairn that I brought up at my ain expense, that I looked on wi' as muckle regard as though he had been my ain, and wha I was meaning to make heir o' Clashgirn and a' I possess, as your friend, Mr. Carnegie, can testify."

"That's true," said the lawyer, as if remembering an important fact he had quite forgotten. "On Thursday, before anything was suspected of this business, the Laird gave me instructions to draw up his will in favour of James Falcon."

66

And I would think," added the Laird, with a complacent dab of the head, "that fact will be accepted as some proof that I could hae had no thought of harming the lad.”

Again Jeanie was staggered. She had expected to surprise him into confession, or at least some explanation which would betray his knowledge of the crime; and instead of that she seemed to be only bringing to light proofs to confound her own convictions. She could see that both Girzie and Mr. Carnegie were impressed by the Laird's last words. But, with a sort of instinctive logic, her mind presently grasped the one assailable point of this evidence.

"No," she cried, her face flushing with fancied triumph, "the fact will be accepted as proof that ye ken'd what had happened before onybody else, and that ye just gied orders for your will to turn a' suspicion awa' fra ye

for

"Mistress Gray

But she would not be interrupted

66

Aye, ye may weel haud up your hands and look horrified, ye ken I'm speaking the truth. What would ye harm the lad for? ye say wi' your fause tongue. Because he ken'd how the Colin was burnt, and baith you and Carrach were feared for your lives. If that wasna sae-if the murder o' that puir lad that was mista'en for another doesna lie atween you and Carrach—what was the meaning o' your stealing awa' like a thief frae your ain house last night to meet him on the Links? What was the meaning o' your paying him a hunder pieces o' gowd, and threatening that if he ever came back ye would deliver him ower to the hangman? What was yon paper ye gar'd him put his mark till and me sign my name on? and what did ye allow him to carry me awa' for when ye found out that I had been watching ye? What for, but that the guilt on your conscience made ye ready for ony deed that might hide it."

Girzie had been standing with darkly troubled visage, glowering alternately at the Laird and Jeanie. At the mention of Carrach's name she had started, shuddering, and a light had seemed to flash over her face.

"Ivan Carrach!" she now ejaculated hoarsely, "he is my brother-whar is he?"

Jeanie was too much excited to notice the new source of surprise and complication in Girzie's announcement of her relationship to the Highlander. She answered triumphantly, for she fancied the answer would shake the Laird's last support, and her eyes were fixed on him steadily the while"He's a prisoner, fast bound, in the care o' Geordie Armstrong."

Girzie stood an instant gazing blankly at the speaker; then, clenching her teeth, she strode out of the room, not looking to right or left, not even giving a parting glance at the coffin.

CHAPTER XLIV.

BAFFLED.

"Like a saint sincere and true

He discovered all he knew,

And for more there was no occasion."

Jacobite Ballad.

GIRZIE'S interruption had given the Laird a breathing space. When first made aware of Carrach's arrest, his weak eyes had blinked a little more than usual. But that was all; for he had been expecting to learn that some accident had befallen the skipper from the moment he had seen Jeanie at the door. Consequently, he was in a manner prepared for the announcement. Besides, although an utter coward when any physical danger was close upon him, so long as there was time for cunning to serve him, his foxy craft had resources enough for the occasion.

He utterly astonished Jeanie, and perplexed the lawyer, by producing his snuff-box, taking a refreshing pinch, and sighing with all the resignation of a martyr who feels that his long

suffering spirit has been driven to extremity, and that it must now assert itself in the cause of truth.

"Od, it's extraordinar'!" he exclaimed meekly, gently raising his hands and dabbing his head, "that the most innocent and kindly-meant actions o' ane's life may be turned against him like whips to scourge him. Mistress Gray, I wonder at ye, and I'm sorry for ye too. Will ye please to step down the stair to my room, and I'll gie ye a' the explanations that are in my power? I dinna like to stand here disgracing the presence o' the dead wi' our unseemly squabbles. Will ye kindly respect my scruples on this point and oblige me ?

As is usual when one is excessively angry, humble politeness on the part of the person who has roused our anger acts on the system much like a dip in cold water. Although his submission only intensified her loathing for the creature, she was unable to offer any opposition to his moderate and polite request. She simply followed Mr. Carnegie, who immediately complied with the Laird's wish.

As soon as they had entered the chamber below, the Laird closed the door, placed a chair for Jeanie, and observing that she looked fatigued asked in his mildest tone if she would allow him to offer her some slight refreshment. She was for the moment dazed by his marvellous placidity, and the respect with which he treated her, notwithstanding the grave imputations she had brought against him, and she could not have answered him even had she been disposed to do so. Neither would she sit down.

He did not press her; but after giving Mr. Carnegie a chair, he produced bottle and glasses from his cupboard, and asked him to partake. The lawyer, from being puzzled, began to feel a little awkward under the circumstances, and accepted the hospitality. Never in all his experience had he seen or heard of a guilty person conducting himself with such equanimity and friendliness toward his accusers.

"Now, Mrs. Gray," said the Laird meekly, with another pinch and another dab, and seating himself, so that he should face both his hearers, "it shall not be my fault if I dinna gie