led with writing. "There," she
explained, "is Mr. Morris's own account of all that passed between Miss
Jethro and himself."

"But how do _you_ come by it?"

"Mr. Morris gave it to me. He said, 'Show it to Emily as soon as
possible; and take care to be with her while she reads it.' There is
a reason for this--" Cecilia's voice faltered. On the brink of some
explanation, she seemed to recoil from it. "I will tell you by-and-by
what the reason is," she said.

Emily looked nervously at the manuscript. "Why doesn't he tell me
himself what he has discovered? Is he--" The leaves began to flutter in
her trembling fingers--"is he angry with me?"

"Oh, Emily, angry with You! Read what he has written and you shall know
why he keeps away."

Emily opened the manuscript.

CHAPTER LXVI. ALBAN'S NARRATIVE.

"The information which I have obtained from Miss Jethro has been
communicated to me, on the condition that I shall not disclose the place
of her residence. 'Let me pass out of notice (she said) as completely as
if I had passed out of life; I wish to be forgotten by some, and to be
unknown by others.'" With this one stipulation, she left me free to write
the present narrative of what passed at the interview between us. I feel
that the discoveries which I have made are too important to the persons
interested to be trusted to memory.

1. _She Receives Me_.

"Finding Miss Jethro's place of abode, with far less difficulty than I
had anticipated (thanks to favoring circumstances), I stated plainly the
object of my visit. She declined to enter into conversation with me on
the subject of the murder at Zeeland.

"I was prepared to meet with this rebuke, and to take the necessary
measures for obtaining a more satisfactory reception. 'A person is
suspected of having committed the murder,' I said; 'and there is reason
to believe that you are in a position to say whether the suspicion is
justified or not. Do you refuse to answer me, if I put the question?'

"Miss Jethro asked who the person was.

"I mentioned the name--Mr. Miles Mirabel.

"It is not necessary, and it would certainly be not agreeable to me,
to describe the effect which this reply produced on Miss Jethro. After
giving her time to compose herself, I entered into certain explanations,
in order to convince her at the outset of my good faith. The result
justified my anticipations. I was at once admitted to her confidence.

"She said, 'I must not hesitate to d