Surely you have not seen Willi since you went to Germany
three years ago?"

"No, indeed not. But he told me about this matter
when he took me to the station. He said that a friend
would call on me some time after my return here, and
that to keep these goods would be to my advantage----"
she stopped awkwardly.

"You mean," said Mrs. Guthrie slowly, "that you
were paid for keeping these things, Anna?" Somehow
she felt a strange sinking of the heart.

"Yes," Anna spoke in a shamed, embarrassed tone.
"Yes, that is quite true. I was given a little present
each year. But it was no one's business but mine."

"And how long did you have them?" Mrs. Guthrie
had remembered suddenly that that was an important
point.

Anna waited a moment, but she was only counting.
"Exactly three years," she answered. "Three years
this month."

Mrs. Guthrie also made a rapid calculation. "You
mean that they were brought to the Trellis House in
the March of 1912?"

Anna nodded. "Yes, gracious lady. When you and
Miss Rose were in London. Do you remember?"

The other shook her head.

Anna felt almost cheerful now. She had told the
whole truth, and her gracious lady did not seem so
very angry after all.

"They were brought," she went on eagerly, "by
a very nice gentleman. He asked me for a safe place
to keep them, and I showed him the cupboard behind
my bed. He helped me to bring them in."

[[334]]

p333 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p334w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p335

v?