s nature of my undertaking only gave an
added spur to my courage. I felt my brain clear and my heart expand, as
if at this moment, before I had so much as set eyes on the faces of
these young people, I recognized the fact that they were the victims of
a web of circumstances so tragic and incomprehensible that only a woman
like myself would be able to dissipate them and restore these girls to
the confidence of the people around them.

I forgot that these girls had a brother and that--But not a word to
forestall the truth. I wish this story to grow upon you just as it did
upon me, and with just as little preparation.

The farmer who drove me, and who I afterwards learned was called
Simsbury, showed a certain dogged interest in my behavior that would
have amused me, or, at least, have awakened my disdain under
circumstances of a less thrilling nature. I saw his eye roll in a sort
of wonder over my person, which may have been held a little more stiffly
than was necessary, and settle finally on my face, with a look I might
have thought complimentary had I had any thought to bestow on such
matters. Not till we had passed the path branching up through the woods
toward the mountain did he see fit to withdraw it, nor did I fail to
find it fixed again upon me as we rode by the little hut occupied by the
old woman considered so harmless by Mr. Gryce.

Perhaps he had a reason for this, as I was very much interested in this
hut and its occupant, about whom I felt free to cherish my own secret
doubts--so interested that I cast it a very sharp glance, and was glad
when I caught a glimpse through the doorway of the old crone mumbling
over a piece of bread she was engaged in eating as we passed her.

"That's Mother Jane," explained my companion, breaking the silence of
many minutes. "And yonder is Miss Knollys' house," he added, lifting his
whip and pointing toward the half-concealed facade of a large and
pretentious dwelling a few rods farther on down the road. "She will be
powerful glad to see you, Miss. Company is scarce in these parts."

Astonished at this sudden launch into conversation by one whose reserve
I had hitherto found it impossible to penetrate, I gave him the affable
answer he evidently expected, and then looked eagerly toward the house.
It was as Mr. Gryce had intimated, exceedingly forbidding even at that
distance, and as we approached nearer and I was given a full view of its
worn and discolored front, I felt myse