"The watchers of the dead!" echoed Mrs. Dallas, with a start. "Well, let us say my servant, Jaggard. He was drugged by Dido, and she stole the body, or rather she aided Etwald to do so." "Dido, is this true?" "Yis," said the negress, coldly; "de great massa told me to do dat." "The great master," repeated Jen; "you mean Dr. Etwald?" "Yis. Dat so." "He took away the body of Mr. Alymer, and you helped him?" "Yis." "Why did you steal the body?" Dido shrugged her shoulders. "Ask de great massa." "Where did you take it to?" demanded Jen, baffled in one direction and trying another. "Ask de great massa," said Dido once more. "The law will do that." "The law, Major Jen?" said Mrs. Dallas, alarmed. "Yes. I intend to have Dr. Etwald arrested." "You dare not. Why?" "On three charges. First, that he thieved the devil-stick; second, that he killed Maurice; and third, that he stole the lad's body." Mrs. Dallas fell back on the sofa, with a white face. Dido laughed in a guttural fashion, and shrugged her shoulders contemptuously. "Voodoo!" she said, and laughed again. The major guessed that she meant that African witchcraft would avert disaster from Etwald, and at once flung the word back in her face. "Voodoo will not help the doctor," said he, quietly. "This is a civilized country, and we who inhabit it are above being influenced by such degrading superstitions. You believe in Voodoo; in Obi; let us see if such things will protect you." "Do you mean that Dido is in danger of arrest?" cried Mrs. Dallas, in a terrified tone. "Certainly, as the accomplice of Etwald." "But she did not kill Mr. Alymer." "She filled the devil-stick with the poison which was used to kill him," retorted the major, coldly, "and she confesses to having aided him in stealing the body." "Ah!" murmured Mrs. Dallas, casting a haggard look around. "All is lost." "Are you alluding to Dido?" demanded Jen, rather surprised at her tone. Mrs. Dallas was about to speak, when the negress silenced her with a look, and raised her head proudly. "Yis. It ole Dido," she said. "But ole Dido not lost. Dat great massa, he look after ole Dido." "If you mean Dr. Etwald, he will have enough to do to look after himself. Well, Mrs. Dallas, as I have learned what I wished to know, I shall now take my leave." "You go to ruin us," wept Mrs. Dallas. "No," said Jen, in an inflexible voice. "I go to punish the man who killed my boy." Without another word he left the room. His last glance showed that Dido had gathered her sobbing mistress in her arms, and was staring after him in a defiant manner. At the front door Jen heard his name called softly, and Isabella, with a rich color in her usually pale cheeks, came flying after him. "Major, major, I have heard all! I have been listening at the window." "Then you know that I am aware of your deception about the handkerchief?"