"Yes, in our room," said Joe. "Fetch it—bring it at once!" cried both the lawyers and Mytton, speaking together. "Can't, it's a hen-coop now," muttered the boy, shrinking back, alarmed at the fierce expression on the face of his father. "You little dog—" began the enraged man, but Mr. Garway stopped his explosion of rage with a gesture of the hand. "Softly, friend, let me question the boy," he said. "If the box has been made into a hen-coop, what have you done, let me ask, with the papers it contained?" "I han't done nothin' with 'em," faltered Joe, giving a timid sidelong glance at his father. "Yes, you patched the window-pane," said little May, pointing to the casement in which more than one pane held more of paper than of glass. Mr. Sharp instantly rose, went up to the window, and carefully examined the paper; then shook his head, and returned to his seat. "It, is desirable that every fragment of old papers which the box contained should, if possible, be recovered," observed Mr. Garway. "I would have the strictest search made for them at once." Off started Joe and David, almost before the sentence was finished; they were only too glad to make their escape from the room, and their ambitious hopes were awakened by the gentlemen evidently setting great value upon what had seemed worthless to them. "I has," began May, and stopt short in fear. "You have what, little woman?" asked Sharp. "Bits in my bag," whispered the child. Mytton eagerly snatched the bag from her arm, and emptied its contents on the table; turning-the bag inside out, to make sure that no scrap should escape his notice. He turned over the soiled printed leaves with evident disappointment. "Only bits of an old Bible, no use at all," he muttered. "I beg your pardon, my good man," said Mr. Garway; "it by no means follows that an old family Bible, of which these leaves appear to have formed a part, should be of no use to us in our search. Many persons keep family records of births and marriages in the blank page of their Bibles, and if this—" "Ha! Look here!" interrupted Mr. Sharp, catching up a yellow three-cornered morsel of paper with writing upon it, which had got mixed up with the printed portions. "Here is '—ried June 1, 1714,' doubtless this is part of an old record of marriage." "If we could only discover the rest of the page from which that was torn," cried Mr. Garway. "I should not wonder if we found that we had got hold of the right clue at last." Diligent search was made amongst the papers which May had put into her bag, but not another scrap could be found to match that three-cornered bit. The whole cottage—upstairs and downstairs—was searched;—the shed, the yard, the dust-hole, the hen-coop, every likely and unlikely spot was hunted over for paper, and papers were found, but the lawyers, after examination, shook their heads at them all.