all things, began early to show the bitterest
enmity toward the negro, while her sister, seeing that her father liked
and appreciated him, tried by her own kindness to compensate for the
other's rudeness. What caused Millicent's feelings Daisy had no means of
knowing, and she had not the least suspicion until she heard the
conversation in the library the night the house was entered. Even then
she did not take the subject much to heart, for she did not comprehend
all that Hannibal had meant to convey in the brief and sarcastic
expression he used. Daisy had a mind too pure to believe anything so
heinous of her own sister as Hannibal had intimated.

The passion of love is a thing that grows in curious ways. What made it
seem to Hannibal that there was hope for him was the discovery that Mr.
Fern was committing forgeries and that the proofs might be his for the
taking. If he could hold such a power as that over this gentleman, who
could say that even so great a mesalliance as his daughter's marriage to
an African might not be arranged?

The negro proceeded cautiously. He secured the proofs he wished, and let
Mr. Fern know tacitly that he had them. The terror, the undisguised fear
that followed, the admittance of the menial to a totally different
position in the household and the office, showed that the servant had
not underrated the importance of his acquisition.

Not one word bearing directly on the subject passed between them. The
condition of the merchant was more horrible than it would have been had
his employe said outright, "I have the proof that you are a forger--I
can send you to prison for twenty years, and I will do so unless you do
so-and-so for me." He did not know how Hannibal meant to use his
information. He was afraid to broach the matter to him. He could only
wait and suffer; and suffer he did, as a proud-spirited, high-minded man
who has made an error must suffer, when such a sword hangs over his
head, ready at any moment to fall.

As Walker Boggs had said, Mr. Fern was not by nature a business man.
After the former's retirement from active participation in the concern
there was a series of losses. When Mr. Fern took his pen and began to
imitate the signature of his late partner on a sheet of paper, nothing
but some such course stood between him and bankruptcy. He felt certain
that if he could tide over twenty-four hours he would be saved. Before
he left his office he had made a note, written Mr. Boggs n