“My investigations this morning proved it to be so.  He is missing, and the appearance of the thief corresponded to his size and form.  I am now satisfied, though I did not suspect it at the time, that he was the man upon whom I fired.”

“But Hatchie was always honest and faithful,” said Emily.

“So he was, and I must share your surprise,” returned Jaspar.

“There is a possibility that it was not he,” suggested Mr. Faxon.

“There can be no doubt,” said Jaspar, sharply.  “The evidence is conclusive.”

“No doubt!” repeated Mr. Faxon, with a penetrating glance into the eye of Jaspar, whose apparent anxiety to settle the question had roused his first suspicion.  “He was, if I mistake not, the only servant of your household who was on the estate at the time of Miss Dumont’s birth?”

“He was, I believe,” replied Jaspar, with a coolness that belied the anxiety within him.

“Were you alone when you shot him, Mr. Dumont?” asked the clergyman, sternly.

“I was alone.  But allow me to ask, sir, by what right you question me.  I am not your pupil or your servant,” replied Jaspar, rather warmly, his natural testiness getting the better of his discretion.

“Pardon me, sir,” replied the minister, in a tone of mock humility.  “Do not let my curiosity affront you.”

“But it does affront me,” said Jaspar, losing his temper at the sarcastic manner of the other.  “Now, allow me to inquire your business with this girl.”

“I came in the discharge of my duty as a Christian minister, to impart the consolations of religion to this afflicted child of the church.  Of course, my business could not be with you in that capacity.”

“You seem to have departed very widely from your object,” replied Jaspar, with a sneer which he always bestowed upon religious topics.

“True, I have.  This last blow upon poor Emily was so sudden and so severe as to call forth a remark, and even a question of the validity of the will.”

“Indeed!” replied Jaspar, with a nervous start; “you have the will as her father left it.”

“Uncle, you said my father’s watch was stolen?  Was it not in the iron safe, with the other articles?” asked Emily, timidly.

“It was,” replied Jaspar, coldly.

“How did he open it?” interrogated Mr. Faxon, taking up the suggestion of Emily.

“Did Hatchie return the keys to you last night?” asked Jaspar of Emily, promptly.

“He did not,” replied she.

“I sent for them to put a note in its place, and sent them back by him immediately.  The fellow stood by when I opened the safe, and must have witnessed its contents.  You can judge how he opened it now,” returned Jaspar, with a sneer, well pleased that he had foiled their inquiries.

“You say that the canoe in which he was making his escape came ashore.  Where is it now?  No canoe belongs to the estate.”