“Oh, you are very innocent!” Lettice broke in. “Add deceit to deceit. Tell him, Mr. Baldwin, since he is so innocent of the charge. Refresh his memory.” “Miss Hopkins secreted some valuables in this place,” Mr. Baldwin said, turning to Robert. “We came down here to unearth them, and we find them gone.” “And you charge me with taking them! Lettice, you can do that? Great Heaven! what do I hear? Lettice, you are but joking. You do not really mean it. This is but one of your tricks.” “I wish to Heaven it were so, sir. For my part, if you have taken the box to plague me, it is a sorry joke; but return the papers quickly, I beg of you, and I will forgive you. Have you them? This is no time for play; say quickly.” “I have not,” he answered slowly. He was very pale, and was trembling from head to foot. “You may not have them, but did you take them?” Mr. Baldwin asked. Robert whirled around upon him. “You dare ask me that! And who are you, who take the right to question me? I am not answerable to you, sir, but you shall be answerable to me.” And, taking a step forward, he gave the other a slap in the face. From Lettice came a cry of dismay, and Mr. Baldwin, with eyes flashing, said in a low, even voice: “I will meet you, sir, when and where you please, as soon as this charge made by Miss Hopkins is disproved. At present I do not forget that we are in the presence of a lady.” “Lettice, Lettice, forgive me!” cried Robert. But she gave him not so much as a look or a word. She extended her hand to Mr. Baldwin. “Take me to my brother,” she said. “I must tell him at once of his loss.” Mr. Baldwin hesitated, and Lettice understood that he would fain secure the man she had accused. “No, no,” she whispered, “do not arrest him. I may have been too hasty. We have no proof as yet. I beg of you, Mr. Baldwin, take no further steps till we consult my brother. He--he may be innocent, and--and--we have been friends.” Therefore, leaving Robert standing wretched and alone, they moved toward the house. CHAPTER XI. _An Interrupted Duel._ Pale and agitated, Lettice stood before the company now gathered indoors. “It is gone!” she whispered. “Gone!” “What do you mean?” asked her brother. “What is gone?” “The box with the papers. I hid it by the footstone where Theophilus Hopkins is buried, and just now, when Mr. Baldwin and I went to get it, we found nothing there. Some one has taken it.” “Have you any idea of who could have done it?” Lettice twisted her fingers nervously, and gave a quick distressed look toward Ellicott Baldwin, but she made no answer. “Have you any idea of who could have taken the box?” General Benson asked. “Speak up, my child. Remember that you are a loyal little girl, and that it is for the good of your country that we discover these papers. Beyond that, your brother’s honor is involved, and you will place him in a most embarrassing position if the papers fail to appear. Did any one see you secrete these papers?”