is happen long o' Miss Miriam as went heyin' off to de willidge dis
mornin' afore she got her brekfas, nobody on de yeth could tell what
fur. Now de od-er two is gone, an' nobody lef here to mine de house,
'cept 'tis you an' me! Sam's waystin'!"

Cloudy laughed and tried to cheer her spirits by a gay reply, and then
they kept up between them a lively badinage of repartee, in which old
Jenny acquitted herself quite as wittily as her young master.

And after supper she cleared away the service, and went to prepare a bed
and light a fire in the room appropriated to Cloudy.

And so the evening wore away.

It grew late, yet neither Thurston nor Paul appeared. Cloudy began to
think their return unseasonably delayed, and at eleven o'clock he took
up his lamp to retire to his chamber, when he was startled and arrested
by the barking of dogs, and by the rolling of the carriage into the
yard, and in a few minutes the door was thrown violently open, and Paul
Douglass, pale, haggard, convulsed and despairing, burst suddenly into
the room.

"Paul! Paul! what in the name of Heaven has happened?" cried Cloudy,
starting up, surprised and alarmed by his appearance.

"Oh, it has ended in his committal!--it has ended in his committal!--he
is fully committed for trial!--he was sent off to-night to the county
jail at Leonardtown, in the custody of two officers!"

"Who is committed? What are you talking about, Paul?" said Cloudy,
taking his hand kindly and looking in his face.

These words and actions brought Paul somewhat to his senses.

"Oh! you do not know!--you do not even guess anything about it, Cloudy!
Oh, it is a terrible misfortune! Let me sit down and I will tell you!"

And Paul Douglass threw himself into a chair, and in an agitated, nearly
incoherent manner, related the circumstances that led to the arrest of
Thurston Willcoxen for the murder of Marian Mayfield.

When he had concluded the strange story, Cloudy started up, took his
hat, and was about to leave the room,

"Where are you going, Cloudy?"

"To the stables to saddle my horse, to ride to Leonardtown this night!"

"It is nearly twelve o'clock."

"I know it, but by hard riding I can reach Leonardtown by morning, and
be with Thurston as soon as the prison doors are opened. And I will ask
you, Paul, to be kind enough to forward my trunks from the tavern at
Benedict to Leonardtown, where I shall remain to be near Thurston as
long as he needs my services."