"And he never came back?"

"Not even a letter. He simply disappeared, and no one knows to this
day whether he is alive or dead. At least if Judge Beaucaire ever
received any word from him he never confessed as much to Haines.
However, the boy left behind tangible evidence of his existence."

"You mean--"

"In the form of a child, born to a quadroon slave girl named Delia.
The mother, it seems, was able in some way to convince the Judge of the
child's parentage. All this happened shortly before Beaucaire's second
marriage, and previous to the time when Haines came to the Landing.
Exactly what occurred is not clear, or what explanation was made to the
bride. The affair must have cut Beaucaire's pride deeply, but he had
to face the conditions. It ended in his making the girl Delia his
housekeeper, while her child--the offspring of Adelbert Beaucaire--was
brought up as a daughter. A year or so later, the second wife gave
birth to a female child, and those two girls have grown up together
exactly as though they were sisters. Haines insists that neither of
them knows to this day otherwise."

"But that would be simply impossible," I insisted. "The mother would
never permit."

"The mother! which mother? The slave mother could gain nothing by
confession; and the Judge's wife died when her baby was less than two
years old. Delia practically mothered the both of them, and is still
in complete charge of the house."

"You met her?"

"She was pointed out to me--a gray-haired, dignified woman, so nearly
white as scarcely to be suspected of negro blood."

"Yet still a slave?"

"I cannot answer that. Haines himself did not know. If manumission
papers had ever been executed it was done early, before he took charge
of Beaucaire's legal affairs. The matter never came to his attention."

"But surely he must at some time have discussed this with the Judge?"

"No; at least not directly. Beaucaire is not a man to approach easily.
He is excessively proud, and possesses a fiery temper. Once, Haines
told me, he ventured a hint, but was rebuffed so fiercely as never to
make a second attempt. It was his opinion the Judge actually hated the
sight of his son's child, and only harbored her in the house because he
was compelled to do so. All Haines really knew about these conditions
had been told him secretly by an old negro slave, probably the only one
left on the estate knowing the facts."

"But, Captain," I exclai