ll upon him.

"Why, there's Philip Alston now!" he exclaimed in an undertone and with
a frown. "The splendid audacity of the magnificent rascal! Think of his
coming here--right under our noses--to-day, too, of all days! And he
knows perfectly well that we know him to be the leader, the originator,
the head and the brains of all this villany!"

"Yes. But how are we going to prove it?" asked the attorney-general.
"Believing a thing and proving it are two different things. If I could
only once get my hand on a particle of evidence.--Do you suppose he
could have known what we were talking about?" with sudden uneasiness.
"He is intelligent enough to guess, without hearing a word. It is
scarcely possible that Judge Knox could have been so thoughtless as to
speak of our plans to his nephew--that solemn, pompous young fool who
was with Alston. Surely, even Robert Knox couldn't have been so
indiscreet in a matter of life and death, such as this!"

"Not when he was sober; and he hasn't been drinking to-day. As for
yesterday--that is another matter," said General Jackson. "Robert Knox
always means to do exactly what is right, but what a man means is
sometimes very different from what he does, especially when he doesn't
know what he is doing."

IX

PAUL'S FIRST VISIT TO RUTH

None of this strife had yet touched Cedar House. Even the hazy sadness
which had dimmed Ruth's bright spirits as she had watched the young
preacher ride away, had passed as quickly as mist before the sun. For it
is one of the mercies that happy youth never sees life's struggle quite
clearly, and that it is soon allowed to forget the fleeting glimpses
which may cloud its happiness for an instant.

Her thoughts were now solely of the young doctor's coming. He had not
named the hour; the epidemic made him uncertain of his own time. But he
had said that he would come during the day, so that it was necessary to
be ready to receive him at any moment. And there were many pleasant
things to do in preparation for his coming. More roses were to be
gathered, and other flowers also, were blooming gayly among the sober
vegetables as if it were mid-summer. So that the first thing Ruth did
was to strip the garden, with David to help her and no one to hinder.

The judge and William had gone away from the house as soon as breakfast
was over, saying they would try to return in time to see the visitor.
Miss Penelope was busy in seeing that the coffee-pot was was