."

"O Licorice!--more deception yet?"

"Deception! Why, wouldst thou tell her the truth? Just go to her now,
and wake her, and let her know that she is--"

Belasez strained her ears to their utmost, but the words which followed
could not be heard from her mother's dropped tones.

"What would follow--eh?" demanded Licorice, raising her voice again.

"Adonai knows!" said Abraham, sadly. "But I suppose we could not keep
her long."

"I should think not! Thou canst go and tell the Mayor, and see what he
and his catch-polls will say. Wouldn't there be a pretty ferment? Old
man, it would cost thee thy life, and mine also. Give over talking
about lies as if thou wert one of the cherubim (I'll let thee know when
I think there's any danger of it), and show a little spice of prudence,
like a craftsman of middle earth as thou art. More deception! Of
course there is more deception. A man had better keep off a slide to
begin with, it he does not want to be carried down it."

"The child fancies, Licorice, that Anegay was her sister, and that she
either became a Christian or married one. She has no idea of any thing
more."

"Who told her Anegay's name?"

"I cannot imagine. It might be Bruno."

"We have always been so careful to keep it from her hearing."

There was a pause.

"Didst thou find the Christian dog had tampered with her faith?"

"I don't know, Licorice. I could not get that out of her."

"Then he has, no doubt. I'll get it out of her."

Belasez trembled at the threat.

"Any thing more, old man? If not, I'll go to sleep again."

"Licorice," said Abraham in a low voice, "the child said she loved him--
as she loves me."

"May he be buried in a dunghill! What witchcraft has he used to them
both?"

"It touched me so, wife, I could hardly speak to her. She did not know
why."

"Abraham, do give over thy sentimental stuff! Nothing ever touches me!"

"I doubt if it do," was Abraham's dry answer.

"Such a rabbit as thou art!--as frightened as a hare, and as soft as a
bag of duck's down. I'm going to sleep."

And Belasez heard no more. She woke, however, the next morning, with
that uncomfortable conviction of something disagreeable about to happen,
with which all human beings are more or less familiar. It gradually
dawned upon her that Licorice was going to "get it out of her," and was
likewise about to devise a false tale for her especial benefit. She had
not heard two sentences whi