"That's just what I can't be with the witch, confound her! she is such a wag, such a drole, such a mimic; disobeys me in such a mocking, cajoling, affectionate way. I could not give her pain if her soul depended on it!" "Then you should talk to her; try moral suasion." "Yes; if I could only get her to be serious long enough to listen to me! But you see Cap isn't sentimental, and if I try to be she laughs in my face." "But, then, is she so insensible to all the benefits you have conferred upon her? Will not gratitude influence her?" "Yes; so far as repaying me with a genuine affection, fervent caresses and careful attention to my little comforts can go; but Cap evidently thinks that the restriction of her liberty is too heavy a price to pay for protection and support. The little rogue! Think of her actually threatening, in her good-humored way, to cite me before the nearest justice to show cause why I detained her in my house!" "Well, you could easily do that, I suppose, and she could no longer oppose your authority." "No; that is just what I couldn't do; I couldn't show any legal rights to detain Capitola." "Humph! That complicates the case very much!" "Yes; and much more than you think; for I wish to keep Capitola until she is of legal age. I do not wish that she should fall into the hands of her perfidious guardian until I shall be able to bring legal proof of his perfidy." "Then it appears that this girl has received foul play from her friends?" "Foul play! I should think so! Gabriel Le Noir has very nearly put his neck into a halter." "Gabriel Le Noir! Colonel Le Noir, our neighbor!" exclaimed the minister. "Exactly so. Parson, you have given me your word as a Christian minister to be silent forever concerning this interview, or until I give you leave to speak of it." "Yes, major, and I repeat my promise; but, indeed, sir, you astound me!" "Listen, and let astonishment rise to consternation. I will tell you who Capitola is. You, sir, have been in this neighborhood only ten years, and, consequently, you know Gabriel Le Noir only as the proprietor of Hidden House, a widower with a grown son----" "And as a gentleman of irreproachable reputation, in good standing both in the church and in the county." "Ex-actly! A man that pays his pew rent, gives good dinners and takes off his hat to women and clergymen! Well, sir, this gentleman of irreproachable manners and morals--this citizen of consideration in the community--this member in good standing with the church--has qualified himself for twenty years' residence in the penitentiary, even if not for the exaltation of a hangman's halter!" "Sir, I am inexpressibly shocked to hear you say so, and I must still believe that there is some great mistake."