"I assure you, Leesy, I had no idea that you regarded Nora's father with so much dislike. I have no object in the world in troubling you with him. I promise you that no word of mine shall give him the clue to your present circumstances, nor to the fact that he has a child living, if he is ignorant of it. You shall be protected--you shall have peace and comfort. What I would like is, that you shall give me a history of his life, his habits, character, where he lived, what was his business, etc.; and I will give you my reasons for wishing the information. A circumstance has come to light which connects him with an affair which I am investigating--that is, if he is the person I think he is--a sort of a doctor, I believe?" Miss Sullivan did not answer the question so skillfully put; she still watched us with shining, half-sullen eyes, as if ready to put forth a claw from the velvet, if we approached too near. "Come, Leesy, you must tell me what I want to hear." Mr. Burton's air was now that of a master. "Time is precious. I can not wait upon a woman's whim. I have promised you--and repeat it, upon my honor--that no annoyance or injury shall come to _you_ through what you may tell me. If you prefer to answer me quietly to being compelled to answer before a court, all is right. I _must_ know what I desire about this man." "_Man_, Mr. Burton! Call him creature." "Very well, creature, Leesy. You know him better than I do, and if you say he is a creature, I suppose I may take it for granted. His name is--" "Or was, George Thorley." When the name was spoken, I gave a start which attracted the attention of both my companions. "You probably know something about him, Mr. Redfield," remarked the girl. "George Thorley, of Blankville, who used to have an apothecary shop in the lower part of the village, and who left the place some three years ago, to escape the talk occasioned by a suspicious case of malpractice, in which he was reported to be concerned?" "The same person, sir. Did you know him?" "I can not say that I was acquainted with him. I do not remember that I ever spoke a word with him. But I knew him, by sight, very well. He had a face which made people look twice at him. I think I bought some trifles in his shop once. And the gossip there was about him at the time he ran away, fixed his name in my memory. I was almost a stranger then in Blankville--had lived there only about a year." "How did he come to have any connection with your family, Leesy?" Miss Sullivan had grown pale during the agitation of our talk, but she flushed again at the question, hesitated, and finally, looking the detective full in the eyes, answered: