is sequestered, as they call it, or forfeited to the
Parliament, in consequence of your father having fought against it on
the king's side. It no longer belongs to you, and you would not be
allowed to take it: on the contrary, you would in all probability be
imprisoned, and who knows what might then take place? You see there is
danger?"

"Did Jacob say this to you?"

"Yes, he did: he told me he dare not speak to you on the subject, you
were so fiery; and if you heard that the property was confiscated you
would certainly do some rash act, and that anything of the kind would be
a pretence for laying hold of you; and then he said that he did not
think that he would live long, for he was weaker every day; and that he
only hoped his life would be spared another year or two, that he might
keep you quiet till better times came. He said that if they supposed
that we were all burnt in the house when it was fired, it would give
them a fair opportunity of calling you an impostor, and treating you
accordingly; and that there were so many anxious to have a gift of the
property that you would have thousands of people compassing your death.
He said that your making known yourself and claiming your property would
be the very conduct that your enemies would wish you to follow, and
would be attended with most fatal consequences; for he said, to prove
that you were Edward Beverley, you must declare that I and your sisters
were in the forest with him, and this disclosure would put the whole
family in the power of their bitterest enemies; and what would become of
your sisters, it would be impossible to say; but most likely they would
be put under the charge of some Puritan family, who would have a
pleasure in ill-treating and humiliating the daughters of such a man as
Colonel Beverley."

"And why did he not tell me all this?"

"He was afraid to say anything to you; he thought that you would be so
mad at the idea of this injustice that you would do something rash: and
he said, `I pray every night that my otherwise useless life may be
spared; for, were I to die, I know that Edward would quit the forest.'"

"Never, while my sisters are under my protection," replied Edward; "were
they safe, I would be out of it to-morrow."

"I think, Edward, that there is great truth in what Jacob says; you
could do no good (for they would not restore your property), by making
your seclusion known at present, and you might do a great deal of
harm--`b