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Show 116 RICHAHD HURDIS. jector and proprietor ! You arc not, and you shaH not be, safe. I have my suspicions.'' "'VIwt suspicions 1 I defy you to say I have anything to do with your husb:mcl." The boldness of John Hurdis was all assumed, and the veil was readily seen through by the keen-sighted woman. "I will confirm to your own c.ars the intelligence which you ]HOcured from my child. It was base in me to follow and to watch over h_er safety: it was not base in you to pick from luw thougl.ltlcss bps tho secrets of her parents, and the ]Jrivalc con': crs~tiOn of }Jcr household! I will HOt ask you to define tile distmctwn between the two. She told you tltc truth. I suspected tbat you were using l3cn Pickett to do the Yillany wl1ich you had the soul to conceive, but not to execute. I know some vill: tnics on wl1ich you llllVC before employed l1im." "'VIwt villanics menu you 1" 11c demanded nnxiously. "No mutter now-I may find tl1cm of more usc to me some future day .tl~::lll now. I will tell you now what were my fcnrs -my st~Sple Jons~whcn yon cnme to our caLin the last nigllt, and earned Den P1ckett with you into t}Jc woods-" ."You fo llowed us? You hc:trd-you listened to whnt was Said ~ctwecn US 1': Wa~ tl1c hurried speech of Jlurdis, )J iS npprehenSI011S denoted In illS tremulous mal broken utterance in the startli11g glare of his eyes, :md the universai }Jallor of hi~ whole countenance. A smile of scorn }Jlayed upon tl1e lips of the woman- silo felt her super iority. She spoke, after a moment's pausr, during which the scom of her fnce changed into sorrow: "Your check betrays you, J ohn Hmdis, and confirms my worst fc:ns. I would that you had been more bold. I would 1Ja\·c given much to have seen you more indifferent to my answer. Could you defy me now, ns yon did but a little wlJilo ngo, I sl10uld slee1> much cnsier to-n ight. But now I tremble quite as much as you. I feel that all my doubts arc true. I would have forgiven you your meditated wrong to my child could you have looked and spoken di fferently.'' "God of heaven, woman!" exclnimed John Ilmdis, with a feeling of desperation in his voice and mmmer, "what is that !o~ mean 1 Slleak out and tell me all- say the worst-wl1nt IS It that you know 1 whnt is it you believe 1 Did yon or did TIIC STRONG MOTIIER. 117 yon not follow us last nigl1t 1 did you hear my conference with yom husband 1" " I did not !" H urd is wns relieved by tl1c answer. lie brenthed freely once more, as he rcplied - u lla ! say uo more, then ; I do not care to hear you now. haYe ktd wind and fury enough.'' "You must hear me. I will tell you now what I believe.'' " I will not hear you. Let me go! I have heard enough. ' Vhat is yom belief to me 1" He would ilnYC passed her, but silO caught his arm. "Yon shall-but for one moment." • He paused, and, like an impatient steed beneath a cmb which chaf'es l1im, and from which he can not break away, John IIurdis turned in ber grnsp, revolving upon the same ground while she spoke, and striving not to hear the language which yet forced itself upon his senses. "1 believe, J ohn llm·dis, that you l1ave sent my husband to do some violence. lie denies it, and I have striven to bc.lievc hirp, but I can not. Since he has left me, I find my suspicions retmn; and they htke a. certain sl111pe to my mind, the more I think of them. I believe that You have sent him against your own brother, whom you both lmte and fear-" " 'Voman - you lie !" lie broke away from her grasp, but lingered. " I will not call you man, J ohn llmclis; but I will not think unkinclly of you, if it be, ns you sa.y, that I lie. God grant that my fears be false ! But, believing what I say -tl;nt you have despatched my ltusbnnd to do a crime which you dare not do yomself- I tell you that if it be clone- " " lie will be the criminal !" said Hm·dis, in low but emplw.tic tones, as l1e turned from her; "he will be the criminal, and, if detected - if, ns you think, he klS gone to commit crime, and such a crime-the gnllows, woman, will be the penalty, nnd it may be that your hanU will guide l1im to it." The woman shrauk bnck, nnd shiYercd; but only for an instant. Recovering, she ndY:mced: - "Not my hand, John Hurd is, but yoms, if any. But let that day come, no matter whose hand shall guide Ben P ickett to |