med, "do you realize what this might mean? If
Judge Beaucaire has not issued papers of freedom, this woman Delia is
still a slave."

"Certainly."

"And under the law her child was born into slavery?"

"No doubt of that."

"But the unspeakable horror of it--this young woman brought up as free,
educated and refined, suddenly to discover herself to be a negro under
the law, and a slave. Why, suppose Beaucaire should die, or lose his
property suddenly, she could be sold to the cotton fields, into bondage
to anyone who would pay the price for her."

Thockmorton knocked the ashes out of his pipe.

"Of course," he admitted slowly. "There is no question as to the law,
but I have little doubt but what Beaucaire has attended to this matter
long ago. If he dies, the papers will be found hidden away somewhere.
It is beyond conception that he could ever leave the girl to such a
fate."

I shook my head, obsessed with a shadow of doubt.

"A mistake men often make--the putting off to the last moment doing the
disagreeable task. How many, expecting to live, delay the making of a
will until too late. In this case I am unable to conceive why, if
Beaucaire has ever signed papers of freedom, for these two, the fact
remains unknown even to his lawyer. One fact is certain, nothing
bearing upon the case has been recorded, or Haines would know of it."

"There is nothing on record, Haines assured himself as to that some
years ago. The fact is, Knox, that while I hope this provision has
been made, there remains a doubt in my mind. Beaucaire has traveled on
my boat several times, but he's an unsociable fellow; I don't like him;
he's not my kind. If he still harbors hatred toward that run-away
son--and to my notion he is exactly that sort--he will never feel any
too kindly toward Delia, or her child. If he has not freed them, that
will be the reason--no neglect, but a contemptible revenue."

"What are the two girls named?"

"Rene, and Eloise."

"Which one is the daughter?"

"Really, Lieutenant, I do not know. You see I was never introduced,
but merely gained a glimpse of them in the garden. I doubt if I would
recognize the one from the other now. You see all this story was told
me later."

I sat there a long while, after he had gone below, the taciturn mate at
the wheel. The low, wooded shores swept past in changing panorama, yet
I could not divorce my mind from this perplexing problem. Totally
unknown to me as th