"The elements are against us, sir. If the weather had been anything but what it is, I must have known everything long ago. Stop, sir, stop; it is no idle excuse, as you seem to fancy. It is not the snow that I speak of; it is the intense and deadly cold, that keeps all but the very strong people indoors. How can any man talk when his beard is frozen? Look, sir!" From his short brown beard he took lumps of ice, beginning to thaw in the warmth of the room, and cast them into the fire to hiss. Mr. Oglander gazed as if he thought that his visitor took a liberty, but one that could not matter much. "Go on, sir, with your report," he said. "Well, sir, in this chain of crime," Mr. Smith replied in a sprightly manner, "we have found one very important link." "What is it, Smith? Don't keep me waiting. Don't fear me. I am now prepared to stand anything whatever." "Well, sir, we have discovered, at last, the body of your Worship's daughter." The Squire bowed, and hid his face. By the aid of faith, he had been hoping against hope, till it came to this. Then he looked up, with his bright old eyes for the moment very steady, and said with a firm though hollow voice-- "The will of the Lord be done! The will of the Lord be done, Smith." "The will of the Lord shall not be done," cried Mr. Smith emphatically, and striking his thick knees with his fist, "until the man who has done it shall be swung, Squire, swung! Make up your mind to that, your Worship. You may safely make up your mind to that." "What good will it do me?" the father asked, talking with himself alone. "Will it ever bring back my girl--my child? Bereaved I am, but it cannot be long! I shall meet her in a better world, Smith." "To be sure your Worship will, with the angels and archangels. But to my mind that will be no satisfaction, till the man has swung for it." "Excuse me for a moment, will you, Mr. Smith, excuse me? I have no right to be overcome, and I thought I had got beyond all that. Ring the bell, and they will bring you cold sirloin and a jug of ale. Help yourself, and don't mind me. I will come back directly. No, thank you; I can walk alone. How many have had much worse to bear! You will find the under-cut the best." CHAPTER XIII. MR. SMITH IS ACTIVE. Mr. John Smith was a little upset at seeing the Squire so put out. But he said to himself: "It is natural--after all, it is natural. Poor old chap! he has taken it as well as could be expected. However, we must all live; and I feel uncommonly peckish just now. I declare I would rather have had something hot, this weather. But in such a case, one must put up with things. I wonder if they have got any horseradish. All frozen hard in the ground, I fear--no harm, at any rate, in asking."