u any day!'

'And I'm an American, and I've known Mr. Van Torp several years,
though this is the first time you have seen me here. Do you think I
would let the child stay an hour under his roof, or stay here myself,
if I believed one word of all those wicked stories the papers are
publishing? Look at me, please. Do you think I would?'

It was quite impossible to look at Miss More's quiet healthy face and
clear eyes and to believe she would. There are some women of whom
one is sure at a glance that they are perfectly trustworthy in every
imaginable way, and above even the suspicion of countenancing any
wrong.

'No,' answered Mrs. Dubbs, with honest conviction, 'I don't, indeed.'

'I think, then,' said Miss More, 'that if I feel I can stay here, you
are safe in staying too. I do not believe any of these slanders, and
I am quite sure that Mr. Van Torp is one of the kindest men in the
world.'

'I feel as if you must be right, Miss More,' replied the housekeeper.
'But they do say dreadful things about him, indeed, and he doesn't
deny a word of it, as he ought to, in my humble opinion, though it's
not my business to judge, of course, but I'll say this, Miss More, and
that is, that if the butler's character was publicly attacked in the
papers, in the way Mr. Van Torp's is, and if I were Mr. Van Torp,
which of course I'm not, I'd say "Crookes, you may be all right, but
if you're going to be butler here any longer, it's your duty to defend
yourself against these attacks upon you in the papers, Crookes,
because as a Christian man you must not hide your light under a
bushel, Crookes, but let it shine abroad." That's what I'd say, Miss
More, and I should like to know if you don't think I should be right.'

'If the English and American press united to attack the butler's
character,' answered Miss More without a smile, 'I think you would
be quite right, Mrs. Dubbs. But as regards Mr. Van Torp's present
position, I am sure he is the best judge of what he ought to do.'

These words of wisdom, and Miss More's truthful eyes, greatly
reassured the housekeeper, who afterwards upbraided the servants for
paying any attention to such wicked falsehoods; and Mr. Crookes, the
butler, wrote to his aged mother, who was anxious about his situation,
to say that Mr. Van Torp must be either a real gentleman or a very
hardened criminal indeed, because it was only forgers and real
gentlemen who could act so precious cool; but that, on the whole,