It was rather high moral ground for a man to take who had just told a deliberate untruth; but Doctor Scales took it, and said sharply: "John Monnick, you are telling me a lie!" "A lie, sir!" whispered the old man. "Hush, sir! pray." "Are you afraid the rabbits will hear me?--Shame, man! An old servant like you.--John Monnick, you know me." "Ay, sir, I do." "Now, don't you feel ashamed of yourself, an old servant, like you, with always a Scripture text on your tongue, telling me a lie like that about the traps?" The gardener was silent, and the doctor heard him draw a long breath. "Well, sir," he said at last--"and I hope I may be forgiven, as I meant well--it weer not the truth." "Then you were after the fruit?" "I? After the fruit, sir? Bless your heart, no; I was only watching." "What! for thieves?" The gardener hesitated, and remained silent. "There, that's better; don't tell a lie, man. I think the better of you. But shame upon you! with your poor master broken, helpless, and obliged to depend upon his people. To go and rob him now, of all times. John Monnick, you are a contemptible, canting old humbug." "No, I aren't, doctor," said the old fellow angrily; "and you'll beg my pardon for this." "Beg your pardon?" "Ay, that you will, sir. It was all on account of master, and him not being able to look after things, as brought me here." "I don't believe you, Monnick." "You can do as you like, sir," said the old man sturdily; "but it's all as true as gorspel. I couldn't bear to see such goings-on; and I says to myself, it's time as they was stopped; and I thought they was, till I come in late to lock up the peach-house, and see her go down the garden." The doctor rose from his seat, startled. "And then I says to myself, he won't be long before he comes, for its a pyntment." "Yes. Well?" said the doctor, who, generally cool to excess, now felt his heart heating strangely. "Oh, you needn't believe it without you like, sir. I dessay I am a canting old humbug, sir; but far as in me lies, I means well by him, as I've eat his bread and his father's afore him this many a year." "I'm afraid I've wronged you, Monnick," said the doctor hastily. "You aren't the first by a good many, sir; but you may as well speak low, or they'll maybe hear, for I walked up torst the house, and I see him pass the window, and then I watched him. P'r'aps I oughtn't, but I knowed it weren't right, and Sir James ought to know." "You--you knew of this, then?" "Yes, sir. Was it likely I shouldn't, when it was all in my garden! Why, a slug don't get at a leaf, or a battletwig, or wops at a plum, without me knowing of it; so, was it likely as a gent was going to carry on like that wi'out me finding of it out?" "And--and is he down the garden now?" said the doctor, involuntarily pressing his hand to his side, to check the action of his heart.