"Was that the man who came for them this morning?"
asked Mrs. Guthrie.

Anna shook her head. "Oh no!" she exclaimed.
"The other gentleman was a gentleman. He wrote
me a letter first, but when he came he asked me to
give it him back. So of course I did so."

"Did he give you any idea of what he had brought
you to keep?" asked Mrs. Guthrie. "Now, Anna, I
beg -- I implore you to tell me the truth!"

"The truth will I willingly tell!" Yes, Anna was
feeling really better now. She had confessed the
one thing which had always been on her conscience --
her deceit towards her kind mistress. "He said they
were chemicals, a new wonderful invention, which I
must take great care of as they were fragile."

"I suppose he was a German?" said Mrs. Guthrie
slowly.

"Yes, he was a German, naturally, being the superior
of Willi. But the man who came today was
no German."

"And during all that time -- three years is a long
time, Anna -- did you never hear from him?" asked
Mrs. Guthrie slowly.

It had suddenly come over her with a feeling of
repugnance and pain, that old Anna had kept her
secret very closely.

"I never heard -- no, never, till last night," cried the
old woman eagerly.

"But even now," said Mrs. Guthrie, "I can't understand,
Anna, what made you do it. Was it to please
Willi?"

"Yes," said Anna in an embarrassed tone. "It was
to please my good nephew, gracious lady."

[[335]]

p334 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p335w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p336

v?