t."

"But I have not," said Alice quietly. "Do you remember my guide at the
Yo Semite,--Stanislaus Joe? Well, Stanislaus Joe is--who do you think?"

Mrs. Rightbody was languidly indifferent.

"Well, Stanislaus Joe is the son of Joshua Silsbie."

Mrs. Rightbody sat upright in astonishment

"Yes. But mother, he knows nothing of what we know. His father treated
him shamefully, and set him cruelly adrift years ago; and, when he was
hung, the poor fellow, in sheer disgrace, changed his name."

"But, if he knows nothing of his father's compact, of what interest is
this?"

"Oh, nothing! Only I thought it might lead to something."

Mrs. Rightbody suspected that "something," and asked sharply, "And pray
how did YOU find it out? You did not speak of it in the valley."

"Oh! I didn't find it out till to-day," said Miss Alice, walking to the
window. "He happened to be here, and--told me."

PART IV.

If Mrs. Rightbody's friends had been astounded by her singular and
unexpected pilgrimage to California so soon after her husband's decease,
they were still more astounded by the information, a year later, that
she was engaged to be married to a Mr. Ryder, of whom only the scant
history was known, that he was a Californian, and former correspondent
of her husband. It was undeniable that the man was wealthy, and
evidently no mere adventurer; it was rumored that he was courageous and
manly: but even those who delighted in his odd humor were shocked at his
grammar and slang.

It was said that Mr. Marvin had but one interview with his father-in-law
elect, and returned so supremely disgusted, that the match was broken
off. The horse-stealing story, more or less garbled, found its way
through lips that pretended to decry it, yet eagerly repeated it. Only
one member of the Rightbody family--and a new one--saved them from utter
ostracism. It was young Mr. Ryder, the adopted son of the prospective
head of the household, whose culture, manners, and general elegance,
fascinated and thrilled Boston with a new sensation. It seemed to many
that Miss Alice should, in the vicinity of this rare exotic, forget her
former enthusiasm for a professional life; but the young man was pitied
by society, and various plans for diverting him from any mesalliance
with the Rightbody family were concocted.

It was a wintry night, and the second anniversary of Mr. Rightbody's
death, that a light was burning in his library. But the dead man's chair
w