'That settles it,' said he. 'She would not have offered the money unless uneasy in mind. Mark you, if she be so ready to give you a hundred pounds, she keeps back three times as much for herself and that kid of hers. That makes four hundred, and next she will be offering me another hundred to bottle up my thoughts and not let them fizz out at my mouth. Is it reasonable that Winefred's father should put down a solid lump sum?――put so much money into the hands of an ignorant, half-crazed woman, who has heretofore never had a piece of gold wherewith to bless herself? Not likely, is it? Consider what the father would do in such a case as she pretends――that he has repented of his wrong and is making amends. I do not say he has. I do not believe in her story at all. But let us suppose that he did come here, see Jane Marley and Winefred, and promised to do his best for them. He would undertake to furnish them with a little money paid quarterly, but would not give three, or four or five hundred pounds to her to play ducks and drakes with. That is not likely. Moreover, he is not worth so much as that.' 'You know Winefred's father?' 'I know something about him. He has been Governor of a place called Tierra del Fuego, and I do not suppose his pay has been so good as that he can put his hand in his pocket and say, There are a few hundreds,――take, and I will give more when you have thrown these away.' 'But he gave the girl a gold watch.' 'How do you know that? The woman Marley says so. That watch may form part of the plunder of which you have been robbed.' 'Then, again,' said Olver, 'what inducement had the woman to offer you such a sum?' 'Because my father was kind to her and took her in.' 'Pshaw! He did that. Because he offered her his situation to be maid-of-all-work, to cook his meals, clean the house, make the fire; in return for which she was to be taken in, together with the girl, and to receive half-a-crown a week, is that it? That is no ground for such a fit of generosity coming upon her. No, no. She has stolen the captain's money, and would salve over her conscience that tortures and stings with one hundred pounds given to you. I see it clear as daylight.' 'It looks bad,' said Jack in a tone of discouragement. 'But, Olver, not a word about this to any one else.' 'You should have closed with the offer. Half a loaf is better than no bread.' 'I could not do it,' answered Jack, and so the matter dropped. The feeling that pervaded the neighbourhood made itself very evident to Jane Marley and to Winefred. The mother was indifferent, but it provoked the liveliest resentment in the girl. Winefred was fired with indignation that her mother should be thought capable of dishonesty, and she winced and chafed at the gibes cast at her, or at the insinuations she could not openly resent.