"I entirely agree with you," said the doctor, with emphasis, "so I take my leave. If you have any influence with Miss Tedder, ma'am, I advise you to induce her to be less bloodthirsty." "Me," cried Maud, in a shrill and angry tone, like an infuriated mosquito, "me, bloodthirsty?" "None the worse for that," said her lover genially. "We don't stock a cotton-wool civilisation in Indiana." Browne laughed. He rather liked Kyles, and his abrupt way of dealing with Miss Tedder. When they were married, it was easy seen who would rule the house, for all Maud's airs and graces and feminine wiles seemed to make very little impression on the rover. No doubt, so good-looking a fellow had been much run after by the fair sex, and had learned how to govern women. "Good-day, Captain," said the doctor heartily, "I am glad you can see further than your nose in this case. I presume I'll meet you at the inquest to-morrow?" "Bruce will take me," said Maud hastily. "And I," chimed in the mistress of the proprieties, with the toll of Big Ben, "will be there to chaperon Miss Tedder." This being settled, Browne took his departure, and walked down the avenue wondering why Maud should be so vindictive towards the man to whom she had once been engaged, and that man her very own cousin. He could not understand, for there seemed to be no reason that she should desire Herries' death, which she certainly seemed to do. Browne asked himself whether she dreaded lest Herries should insist upon renewing the engagement, when Maud became possessed of her millions, or perhaps--as he again thought--the engagement had never been broken. In that latter case, since Maud desired to marry Kyles, she might think to cut the Gordian knot of an entanglement by sending her cousin to the scaffold. But even in such a case, it seemed incredible that she should behave so wickedly. Browne had always deemed Maud to be a butterfly; now it seemed that she was a tigress. He resolved to lay the case before Herries, when next he visited the caravan, and see what his opinion was of her behaviour. The thought of the caravan brought up the image of Kind, who was sheltering the fugitive, and, as is often the case, scarcely had the name passed through Browne's brain, when he ran up against the man himself at the gates of the park. Kind, in his odd dress and chewing a blade of grass, was seated on a stone, with his hands in his pockets and a pondering expression on his shrewd face. "Mornin'," he said, rising, as soon as the doctor emerged from the park, "beastly weather, ain't it?" "Did you come here to tell me that?" asked Browne, looking up at the leaden-coloured sky in a humorous manner. "No. I came to see you about this man, Armour, the policeman, who----" "Yes," interrupted the doctor, strolling towards Tarhaven beside the Cheap-jack, "I know all about that." "Who told you?"