all day, and helped him like a cordial.

The moment he was out of the house, and had placed himself beyond the
possibility of immediate return, the lady called her servant, and told
him that she should be at home to nobody during the day. No one was to
be admitted but Mr. Belcher, on any errand whatsoever.

Then she went to her room, and looked the little book over at her
leisure. There was no doubt about the business skill and method of the
man who had made every entry. There was no doubt in her own mind that it
was a private book, which no eye but that of its owner had ever seen,
before it had been opened to her.

She hesitated upon the point of honor as to what she would do with it.
It would be treachery to copy it, but it would be treachery simply
against a traitor. She did not understand its legal importance, yet she
knew it contained the most valuable information. It showed, in
unmistakable figures, the extent to which Benedict had been wronged.
Perfectly sure that it was a record of the results of fraud against a
helpless man and a boy in whom her heart was profoundly interested, her
hesitation was brief. She locked her door, gathered her writing
materials, and, by an hour's careful and rapid work, copied every word
of it.

After completing the copy, she went over it again and again, verifying
every word and figure. When she had repeated the process to her entire
satisfaction, and even to weariness, she took her pen, and after
writing: "This is a true copy of the records of a book this day lent to
me by Robert Belcher," she affixed the date and signed her name.

Then she carefully wrapped Mr. Belcher's book in a sheet of scented
paper, wrote his name and the number and street of his residence upon
it, and placed it in her pocket. The copy was consigned to a drawer and
locked in, to be recalled and re-perused at pleasure.

She understood the General's motives in placing these records and
figures in her hands. The leading one, of course, related to his
standing with her. He wanted her to know how rich he was, how prudent
he was, how invincible he was. He wanted her to stand firm in her belief
in him, whatever rumors might be afloat upon the street. Beyond this,
though he had made no allusion to it, she knew that he wanted the use of
her tongue among his friends and enemies alike. She was a talking woman,
and it was easy for her, who had been so much at home in the General's
family, to strengthen his reputati