“That is undoubtedly true, as a general proposition. He told me in New York that he had a claim against you for fifty thousand dollars.”

“Yes; that is the amount. I wish to say to you, Mr. Glenarm, that if it is necessary I can pay that amount.”

“Pray do not trouble about it, Sister Theresa. There are a good many things about my grandfather’s affairs that I don’t understand, but I’m not going to see an old friend of his swindled. There’s more in all this than appears. My grandfather seems to have mislaid or lost most of his assets before he died. And yet he had the reputation of being a pretty cautious business man.”

“The impression is abroad, as you must know, that your grandfather concealed his fortune before his death. The people hereabouts believe so; and Mr. Pickering, the executor, has been unable to trace it.”

“Yes, I believe Mr. Pickering has not been able to solve the problem,” I said and laughed.

“But, of course, you and he will coöperate in an effort to find the lost property.”

She bent forward slightly; her eyes, as they met mine, examined me with a keen interest.

“Why shouldn’t I be frank with you, Sister Theresa ? I have every reason for believing Arthur Pickering a scoundrel. He does not care to coöperate with me in searching for this money. The fact is that he very much wishes to eliminate me as a factor in the settlement of the estate. I speak carefully; I know exactly what I am saying.”

She bowed her head slightly and was silent for a moment. The silence was the more marked from the fact that the hood of her habit concealed her face.

“What you say is very serious.”

“Yes, and his offense is equally serious. It may seem odd for me to be saying this to you when I am a stranger; when you may be pardened for having no very high opinion of me. ”

She turned her face to me,—it was singularly gentle and refined,—not a face to associate with an idea of self-seeking or duplicity.

“I sent for you, Mr. Glenarm, because I had a very good opinion of you; because, for one reason, you are the grandson of your grandfather,”—and the friendly light in her gray eyes drove away any lingering doubt I may have had as to her sincerity. “I wished to warn you to have a care for your own safety. I don’t warn you against Arthur Pickering alone, but against the countryside. The idea of a hidden fortune is alluring; a mysterious house and a lost treasure make a very enticing combination. alize that he was creating dangers for the people he I fancy Mr. Glenarm did not re-wished to help.”

She was silent again, her eyes bent meditatively upon me; then she spoke abruptly.

“Mr. Pickering wishes to marry my niece.”