a nice piece
of cake and a glass of currant wine before dinner? We shall not dine
till three o'clock."

"If you please," replied I: for I would not refuse the bribe, although I
had a perfect knowledge why it was offered.

Miss Medea brought the cake and wine. As soon as I had despatched them,
which did not take very long, she commenced her pumping, as I had
anticipated, and which I was determined to thwart, merely out of
opposition.

"You were sorry to leave your mamma, weren't you, Master Keene?"

"Yes; very sorry, miss."

"Where's your papa, dearest? He's a very pretty boy, mamma, ain't he?"
continued the young lady, putting her fingers through my chestnut curls.

"Yes; handsome boy," croaked the old lady.

"Papa's dead."

"Dead! I thought so," observed Miss Medea, winking at her mother.

"Did you ever see your papa, dearest?"

"Oh yes; he went to sea about eighteen months ago, and he was killed in
action."

After this came on a series of questions and cross-questions; I replied
to her so as to make it appear that Ben was my father, and nobody else,
although I had then a very different opinion. The fact was, I was
determined that I would not be pumped, and I puzzled them, for I stated
that my aunt Milly was married to Captain Bridgeman, of the marines; and
not till then did Miss Medea ask me what my father was. My reply was
that he had also been in the marines, and they consequently put him down
as a marine officer, as well as Captain Bridgeman.

This added so much to the respectability of my family, that they were
quite mystified, and found that it was not quite so easy to put that and
that together as they had thought.

As soon as they were tired of questioning, they asked me if I would not
like to take another turn in the garden, to which I consented; and,
placing myself under the window as before, I heard Miss Medea say to her
mother--

"Father's always finding out some mare's nest or another; and because
there is some likeness to the captain, he has, in his great wit, made an
important discovery. It's quite evident that he's wrong, as he
generally is. It's not very likely that Captain Delmar should have had
an intrigue with the wife of a marine officer, and her sister married
also into the corps. The widow has brought him down herself, it is
true, but that proves nothing; who else was to bring him down, if it was
not his mother? and the very circumstance of her going away so soon
prov