pieces of torn letter, collected them in his great hand, and,
taking Mrs. Martin with the other hand, returned with her to the
dining-room.

"Now, you sit there, Little-sing," he said, "while I piece the letter
together. There is something in it that you want hidden from me; but
you've quite mistook your man. There are to be no secrets between you
and me. I'm not the least bit angry with you, but I am not going to
have that girl ruling you. You're frightened of that girl. Now, let's
see what she has to say."

Poor Mrs. Martin trembled from head to foot. Suddenly she went on her
knees, clasped her hands round Bo-peep's arm, and looked into his
face. "She was naughty. She was a silly child. Oh, forgive her! I
ought to have destroyed the letter. I ought not to have kept it until
you came back. Please--please, don't read it!"

"Nonsense, Little-sing," he replied, restored once more to the height
of good humor. "You have roused my curiosity; nothing will induce me
not to see every word of the letter now."

It took Martin some time to piece together poor Maggie's letter; but
at last the greater part of its meaning was made plain to him. Mrs.
Martin sat, white as death, looking at her lord and master. What was
going to happen? What awful thing lay ahead of her? She felt crushed
beyond words. Once again she struggled to get on her knees to implore
him, to entreat; but Martin put out his great hand and kept her
forcibly in her seat.

When he had quite taken in the meaning of the letter he made no
comment whatever, but carefully deposited the torn fragments in
his pocket-book. Then he said quietly, "I don't blame you,
Little-sing, not one bit. But we've got to punish this girl.
To-morrow I shall be busy in town. The day after will be Friday, and
I shall be busy then; but on Saturday we'll take a half-holiday and
go to visit Miss Margaret Howland at Aylmer House--you and me
together, Little-sing--the grocer and his wife together. Not a word,
my love; not a word."

CHAPTER XXI.

TILDY'S MESSAGE.

Nothing ever kept Mrs. Martin awake; and, notwithstanding her anxiety
with regard to Maggie, she slept soundly that night. Bo-peep was his
own delightful self. His jokes were really too good for anything! She
regarded him as the wittiest man of her acquaintance. She laughed till
the tears ran down her cheeks. He told her that he would take her to
the theater on the following evening, and further said that he would
enga