“My dear Roma!” exclaimed the astonished lawyer, “is it possible that you do not know that this scoundrel has committed a felony in the abduction of your ward, for which you can send him to the State prison?” “Oh, no; we could not convict him of any crime in this case.” “Why, what do you mean, my dear? Why, in the name of reason and justice, could we not convict him?” “Because the child he has carried off is his own,” calmly replied Miss Fronde. “His?” demanded the dazed lawyer. “His own child—the child of his deceased wife.” “My dear Roma!” exclaimed the lawyer in utter amazement, while the parson opened wide his eyes and stared in consternation. “Get in the carriage, Mr. Merritt, and I will explain as we go along. But first tell the coachman to take us back to the Goeberlin House. I would like to question the man who drove this hack. I would like to know exactly how the abduction was effected,” Miss Fronde said. The lawyer gave the order and resumed his seat. They reached the Goeberlin House, and sent a boy who was loitering on the sidewalk to fetch the hackman they wanted from the stables. A young negro man answered the summons. He came up to the carriage door, bowed, and stood at attention. Roma herself questioned him. He answered that he had driven the “ge’man” down Goblin Hall road, but had stopped the carriage some distance from the great gate, at the “ge’man’s” orders, where the “ge’man” got out, telling him to wait. The “ge’man” was gone about fifteen minutes, and then came up the road from the direction of the gate, bringing a child, who seemed to be asleep, in his arms, and that another child—a little black child—followed, running and screaming, until the carriage drove off and left her behind. He drove the “ge’man” to the hotel, where he got out to pay his bill and get his valise, and then he drove them to the depot, where they took the 1:30 train for Baltimore. That was all he knew. Roma thanked the man and dismissed him. “Now let us go home,” she said. The order was given, and the carriage started. “And now you see she must have been chloroformed in the first instance,” said Mr. Merritt. “And you say she was his own child, Roma? How could that have been, my dear?” inquired Dr. Shaw. “Yes, dear friends, Owlet is William Hanson’s own child,” Roma replied. “Explain, my dear,” said Mr. Merritt.