["Depind on Kitty, is it? Oh, an' to be sure ye can depind on Kitty to
kape watch at the stove-pipe hole, an' to tell all y'r plottin's an'
contrivin's to them that'll get the cheese out o' y'r mousetrap for ye
before ye catch any poor cratur in it." This was the inaudible comment
of the unseen third party.]

"Of course I can depend on her as far as I trust her. All she knows is
that she must look out for the girl to see that she does not run away or
do herself a mischief. The Biddies don't know much, but they know enough
to keep a watch on the--"

"Chickens." Mr. Bradshaw playfully finished the sentence for Miss
Cynthia.

["An' on the foxes, an' the cats, an' the wazels, an' the hen-hahks,
an' ahl the other bastes," added the invisible witness, in unheard
soliloquy.]

"I ain't sure whether she's quite as stupid as she looks," said the
suspicious young lawyer. "There's a little cunning twinkle in her eye
sometimes that makes me think she might be up to a trick on occasion.
Does she ever listen about to hear what people are saying?"

"Don't trouble yourself about Kitty Fagan,' for pity's sake, Mr.
Bradshaw. The Biddies are all alike, and they're all as stupid as owls,
except when you tell 'em just what to do, and how to do it. A pack of
priest-ridden fools!"

The hot Celtic blood in Kitty Fagan's heart gave a leap. The stout
muscles gave an involuntary jerk. The substantial frame felt the thrill
all through, and the rickety stool on which she was standing creaked
sharply under its burden.

Murray Bradshaw started. He got up and opened softly all the doors
leading from the room, one after another, and looked out.

"I thought I heard a noise as if somebody was moving, Cynthia. It's just
as well to keep our own matters to ourselves."

"If you wait till this old house keeps still, Mr. Bradshaw, you might as
well wait till the river has run by. It's as full of rats and mice as
an old cheese is of mites. There's a hundred old rats in this house, and
that's what you hear."

["An' one old cat; that's what I hear." Third party.]

"I told you, Cynthia, I must be off on this business to-morrow. I want
to know that everything is safe before I go. And, besides, I have got
something to say to you that's important, very important, mind you."

He got up once more and opened every door softly and looked out. He
fixed his eye suspiciously on a large sofa at the other side of the
room, and went, looking half ashamed of his