"Daisy," she said very seriously, "go and knock at the door of Cornelius, and tell him the hour." I obeyed; that is to say, I went upstairs; but I found the door standing wide open, and the room vacant, so I proceeded to the little study, thinking Cornelius might perhaps be there. I knocked at the door and received no answer; I knocked again with the same result. Then I perceived that the door was not quite shut, but stood ajar; I gently pushed it open and looked in. The little table was not in its usual place; it stood so as to receive the most favourable degree of light; before it sat Cornelius in a bending attitude, and, as I saw at a glance, drawing from one of the plaster casts. CHAPTER VIII So intent was Cornelius on his occupation that he never heard or saw me, until I observed, somewhat timidly, "Cornelius, Kate sent me up to tell you that it is half-past eight o'clock." He looked up with a sudden start that nearly upset the table, and sharply exclaimed, "Why did you come in without knocking?" "I knocked twice, Cornelius, but you did not answer." "If you had knocked ten times, you had no right to open that door and enter this room." "Cornelius, the door was open," I said very earnestly, for he looked quite vexed, with his face flushed, and his brow knit. "Oh, was it?" he replied, smoothing down. He looked hastily at the drawing on the table, then gave me a quick glance, read in my face that I had seen it, and, taking a sudden resolve, he said, "Come in, and shut the door." I obeyed. When I stood by his side, Cornelius laid his hand on my head, and gazing very earnestly in my eyes, he said, "You look as if you could keep a secret. Do you know what a secret is?" "Yes, Cornelius, I do." "Then keep mine for me. You see I am drawing. I rise every morning with dawn, to draw; but I do not want Kate to know it just yet,--not until I have done something worth showing. This is the secret you will have to keep; do you understand?" "Oh yes," I confidently answered. "How will you manage?" "I shall not tell her," was my prompt reply. "Why, of course," he said, smiling; "but not to tell is only the first step in keeping a secret. The next, and far more difficult, is not to let it appear that there is a secret. This shall be the test of your discretion." He removed every trace of his late occupation, and accompanied me downstairs. Miss O'Reilly was not in the parlour; but when she came in she gave her brother a good scolding, which he bore patiently. When he rose to go I handed him his hat as usual; as he took it from my hand, he stooped, and whispered, "Remember!" He was no sooner gone than Kate, turning to me, said, with a puzzled smile, "Daisy! what was it Cornelius whispered so mysteriously?" I hung down my head. "Did you hear me?" "Yes, Kate." "Then answer, child." Again I was mute. Kate laid down her work and beckoned me to her. "Is it a secret?" she asked, gravely.