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Show 106 Hl(;IUHD JJ UIWJS. tell you everything-. Did you tldn l;; ] wouldn't tell you, 1\lr. ~ohn7-:-I was only in piny. \Y:tit, now, till I pick up this !tttlc pmk flower, l\1 r. John, tlmt's :;ot tltc yellow drOJJS in the bottom~ and I'll tell yon all. ri'ltis is tltc flower that you read to me, 1\Ir. John: do, ltOw-that's a good dear - do read it to me now." "Not now, Jane-after you tell me about your mother.'' "Yes- but, Mr.Johu, would you set the bears on me for true?" "To be sure, if you wouldn't tell me. Come, Jane, be quick or I'll ca.ll them." ' "No, don't-don't, I beg you! I'm sure ifs nothing so gr('at to tell you i but I toil you, Mr. J 'olm, yon see, bcc:1use mother didn't want you to know. Dad fmd she talked out, but when they thought I wns awake, oh, then there was no more talk for a wltile; but I !tenrd tbem all." "All what, J -ane?" ." Oh, don't you know 1 .All about you and d::~d, and Mr. Rtchard, and how you hate Mr. Richnnl, and how dad is to shoot him-" . "'!'he el-l! you didn't bear that, Jaue !"was tl1e exclama· hon ?f th ~ tb~mderst ruck crim inal i his voice thick with appro· hensw.u, Ius hmbs trembling, his flesh sltri11king :ll)d shivering, ~nd hts eyes, full of wonder anrl affright, absolutely stm·ting from the sockets. So sudden had been the revelation, it might well have startled or stunned a much bolder spi ri t than was his. He led , almost drngged her, still deeper into the woods, as if he dreaded the heedful e~ms of tmy passing traveller. " "\Vhat have you !tcard, Jane 1 what more d id your mother say 7 She surely s:ud not what you tell me; how could she know-how could she say it? She did not say it, Jane-she could not." "Oh, yes, but she did: site sa id a great deal more, but it's no use telling you." " llow no usc 1 '!'ell me all, Jane. Come, my pretty, tell me all that your. mother said, and how she came to sny it. Did your father sny 1t to her first 7" "tVho, dnd 7 • Lord bless you, Mr. John, no ! Dad never te~ls motb.er nothmg, and what she knows she knows by hersel~ w1thout lum." • 107 "lnd('ed! 13ut this about lticharcl and your father-you don't mean that your mother knew any sucl1 tlt iug. Your father told her; you heard him talking to her nbout it." "No, l tell you. 1-.,ather wouldn't talk at all; it was mother that talked the whole. She asked dad, and dad wouldn't tell her, and so she told him." "'l'old him what 1 dicl she hear 1" "Yes, she told him as how you loved Miss Mary; but, Mr. John, it isn't true that you love 1\liss Mary, is it 1" "Pshaw! Jane, what nonsense! Go on; tell me about your mother." " \Veil, I knew it couldn't be that you loved Uiss Mary. I don't want you to love her. She's a fine lady, and a sweet, good lady, but I dou't like you to love her i it don't seem right ; nnd- " The impatient, anxious spirit of John Hm·dis could no longer brook the trifling of the idiot, wl1ich, at anotlter period, and with a mind less excited nnd apprehensive, he would rather have encouraged than rebuked; but now, chafing with excited feel· ings and roused fc:ns, he dicl not scruple to interrupt her. "Nonsense, Jane-nonsense! Say no more of Mary, but tell me of your mother. 'I' ell me how she began to speak to your father-whnt she said-whnt she knows-and we'll talk of 1\tiss Mary and other matters nftcrward. "\'•lhat did she say of Richard 7 wl1at of me, and this shooting of your father 1" "Oh, she didn't say about shooting dad; no, no, it was 1\Ir. Richard that he was to shoot." "\\Tell, well - tellmc that-that!" "Oh, dear me, Mr. Johu, what a flurry you're in! I'm sure I can't tell you anything when you look so. You frighten me too much; don't look so, :Mr. John, if you please." The criminal tried to subdue the appearance of anxiety and terror which the girl 's countenance and manner sufficiently assured him must be evident in ltis own. lle turned from her for an instant, moved twice or thrice nround a tree-she meanwhile watching l1is proceedings with a degree of curiosity that made her forget her fears - then returning, with a brow some· what smoothed, and a haJf.smile upon his lips, he succeeded in persuading her to reeume a narrative which her natural imbe- |