"_She lies in the bottom of the lake_!" he replied, and those who watched him saw him shudder and turn pale for the first time. "How came she there?" broke out Bertram Chesleigh. "My sister was a somnambulist, Mr. Chesleigh. You will not deny that fact, father. She wandered from the house in her sleep, and walked deliberately into the lake." "You saw her?" "Yes, I was the only witness to the tragic deed," he replied, and again they saw a shudder shake his strong frame, and the chill dew beaded his forehead. "Devil, you lie! You pushed her in!" cried Richard Leith, wild with rage and grief. "Did you, John? Oh, tell me the truth," moaned his father. "No, I did not, as there is a Heaven that hears me. I hated Golden because you and my mother loved her best, and because half of your property would go to her, but the thought of murder had not entered my head. I was out late that night, and returning with my mind full of envious thoughts toward my sister, I saw her crossing the moonlighted lawn, and on coming nearer saw that she was asleep. Keeping near to her, I followed her down to the lake, and she walked on straight, without pause or backward glance, into the water." "And you put out no hand to save her--murderer!" cried Bertram Chesleigh, in terrific scorn. "I did not know what she would do until all was over," he replied. "You might have saved her even then," Bertram Chesleigh said. "Yes, I might, but I hated her, and the devil whispered to me that this was my opportunity, so I watched the water close over her head, and then I walked away," he replied. "Oh, my God, is de vengeance ob Hebben asleep dat such debbils roam de yerth?" wailed old Dinah. They echoed her cry. Surely the vengeance of Heaven slumbered that such demons walked the earth unsmitten. "Then temptation entered my soul," he continued. "I did not think it was right for Golden's child to inherit her share of the property when I needed it so much for my own growing family. So I fabricated that slander, and eventually forced my father to make over the remnant of the Glenalvans' possessions to me, and I transferred my hatred from Golden to her child. Now you know all." Old Hugh pointed to the door with a shaking finger. "Go, now, before I call down the terrible vengeance of God on your guilty head!" he cried. "Go, and leave me to weep for my murdered darling!" CHAPTER XLVIII. The next day men were set to work to drag the lake for Golden Leith's body. A poor, bleached skeleton, partially petrified by the action of the water, and therefore in a good state of preservation, was all they found. The broad, gold band of a wedding-ring still clung to the fleshless finger, and the name within was all that remained to assure them that this was she whom they sought--the hapless girl whose bright life had been blasted by a brother's sin, and whose name had been covered with ignominy and shame for sixteen years.