"So Sister Theresa's ill!" I began, seeing that Bates

had nearly finished, and glancing with something akin

to terror upon the open pages of a dreary work on English

cathedrals that had put me to sleep the day before.

"She's been quite uncomfortable, sir; but they hope

to see her out in a few days!"

"That's good; I'm glad to hear it."

"Yes, sir. I think we naturally feel interested, being

neighbors. And Ferguson says that Miss Devereux's devotion

to her aunt is quite touching."

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I stood up straight and stared at Bates' back-he was

trying to stop the rattle which the wind had set up in

one of the windows.

"Miss Devereux!" I laughed outright.

"That's the name, sir,-rather odd, I should call it."

"Yes, it is rather odd," I said, composed again, but

not referring to the name. My mind was busy with a

certain paragraph in my grandfather's will: Should he fail to comply with this provision, said property

shall revert to my general estate, and become, without

reservation, and without necessity for any process of

law, the property, absolutely, of Marian Devereux, of the

County and State of New York.

"Your grandfather was very fond of her, sir. She

and Sister Theresa were abroad at the time he died. It

was my sorrowful duty to tell them the sad news in New

York, sir, when they landed."

"The devil it was!" It irritated me to remember that

Bates probably knew exactly the nature of my grandfather's

will; and the terms of it were not in the least

creditable to me. Sister Theresa and her niece were

doubtless calmly awaiting my failure to remain at

Glenarm House during the disciplinary year,-Sister

Theresa, a Protestant nun, and the niece who probably

taught drawing in the school for her keep! I was sure

it was drawing; nothing else would, I felt, have brought

the woman within the pale of my grandfather's beneficence.

I had given no thought to Sister Theresa since coming

to Glenarm. She had derived her knowledge of me

from my grandfather, and, such being the case, she

would naturally look upon me as a blackguard and a

menace to the peace of the neighborhood. I had, therefore,

kept rigidly to my own side of the stone wall. A

suspicion crossed my mind, marshaling a host of doubts

and questions that had lurked there since my first night

at Glenarm.

"Bates!"

He was moving toward the door with his characteristic

slow step.

"If your friend Morgan, or any one else, should shoot

me, or if I should tumble into the lake, or otherwise end

my earthly career-Bates!"

His eyes had slipped from mine to the window and I

spoke his name sharply.

"Yes, Mr. Glenarm."

"Then Sister Theresa's niece would get this property

and everything else that belonged to Mr. Glenarm."

"That's my understanding of the matter, sir."




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