As Pierre had suspected, Jerry Rook had been sitting up late; and, as she suspected, with some idea of watching her. The lighted room was his, and it was he who had extinguished the candle; she had waited after, till he should be well asleep. She had a terrible time of it, both that day and yesterday. Her father had been very angry with her about several things; he had found out that Pierre had been there; he had cross-questioned her, and made her confess it. It was no use denying it, as her father had found his track, and saw the snake that had been shot; and, besides, one of the negroes had heard a man's voice along with hers among the trees of the orchard. It made it all the worse that she had tried to conceal it, and been found out. Of course she did not say who it was, only a stranger _she had never seen before_. "O, Pierre! I told that great lie about you. God forgive me!" Her father had gone furious; there was something else, too, that made him so--about Alf Brandon, who had come over to see them just after Pierre had gone. "What was it about Alf Brandon?" asked Pierre, rather calmly, considering that the individual spoken of was a most dangerous rival. The young girl noticed this, and answered with some pique. "Oh! nothing much," she said, relaxing the pressure of her arms. "At least, nothing, I suppose, you would care about." "Nay, dear Lena!" he hastily rejoined, noticing the hurt he had unconsciously occasioned, and drawing her back to his breast, "pardon me for the apparent coldness of the question; I only asked it because I wished to tell you that I know all." "All what, Pierre?" "All that occurred between you and Alf Brandon." "And who told you?" "No one. I'm going to make a confession if you'll promise not to be angry with me." "Angry with you, Pierre?" "Well, then, it was thus: after leaving you yesterday, I came back again, and took stand under cover of the trees, just over the creek there, at the bottom of the garden. Of course, I could see the house, and all in front of it. I got there just as your father was leaving to meet Mr Brandon by the gate, and I not only saw what passed between you two, but heard most of what was said. It was much as I could do to restrain myself from springing across the creek, and laying the fellow at your feet; but I kept back, thinking of the trouble I might get you into, to say nothing of myself, with your father. I own to all this meanness, Lena, without being able to let you know my motive for it. One reason for my returning, was to look again upon you." "Oh, Pierre," said the girl, once more reciprocating the pressure of his embrace, "if I had only known you were there! But, no; perhaps it was better not. I might have done something that would have betrayed us both."