hat Martha tells us she gave of him; but Martha could not tell her your
name, which it seems the child did not know. It was natural perhaps that
Martha should pass on to the subject of that tragedy at Beechfield--the
murder of Mr. Sydney Vane and the fate of the murderer."

Sister Louisa paused for a moment--it seemed to her that the young man's
dark handsome face had turned exceedingly pale. He was leaning against
the wall, close to the window; he moved aside a little, as he did not
wish her to see his face, and begged her to proceed with her story. She
went on.

"Martha's tale at this point becomes confused; either she is not sure
of what she said or is reluctant to repeat it. Some slur, some
imputation was no doubt thrown upon the name of Janie's father; and I
believe that she thought that Martha knew her story and was insulting
her. At any rate, the whole establishment was roused by the sound of
screams proceeding from the room. We rushed thither, and found Martha
crouching in a corner, shrieking hysterically, and declaring that Miss
Wood was going to murder her; while Janie--poor Janie----"

"I can imagine it," said Hubert, in a low tone; while Sister Louisa
paused for breath--and perhaps to recover the calmness that she had
lost.

"Our poor Janie," proceeded the kind-hearted woman, "was like one who
had gone mad. She was white as death, her eyes were flaming, her hands
clenched; but all that she seemed able to say were the words, 'My father
was innocent--innocent--innocent!' I should think that she repeated the
words a hundred times. Greatly to our sorrow, Mr. Lepel, the whole story
then came out. We could not silence either Martha or poor Janie--who, I
really think, did not know what she was saying. In spite of our efforts
to keep the matter quiet, in a very short time the whole house--Sisters,
boarders, servants--all knew Jane Wood's sad history."

She noted the rigid lines about Mr. Lepel's mouth as he stepped forward
from the window and spoke in a low stern tone.

"Was it impossible to prevent? It seems incredible to me. I
hope"--almost savagely--"that you have punished for her extraordinary
folly the woman who did the mischief?"

"She has been sent away," said Sister Louisa sadly; "but her punishment
has not mended matters, Mr. Lepel. The excitement in the school was
immense--unprecedented. We felt that it would be incumbent upon us to
send Janie away for a time--until the story was to some extent
for