"She liked it not well. Sullen, brooding hatred had gained
possession of her and of Long Robin. As Esther and some of the
tribe had learned to forgive Trevlyn for the sake of Wyvern, those
twain and a few others had come to hate Wyvern for their alliance
with Trevlyn.

"All this I have been told by Esther. I was not born till after the
treasure had been stolen--born when my mother had long ceased to
look for offspring, and had no love for the infant thrust upon her
care. I was taken from my infancy by Esther, who trained me up,
with the consent of all the tribe, to take her place as their queen
when I should have grown to womanhood. Esther loved not the roving
life of the forest; she had other wishes for herself. She practised
divination and astrology and many dark arts, and wished a settled
place of abode for herself when she could leave the tribe. She
brought me up and taught me all I knew; and she has told me all she
knows about that strange night on which the treasure of Trevlyn was
taken--and lost!"

"Lost--lost by the Trevlyns truly; but surely thou dost not mean
that they who stole it lost it likewise!"

Joanna's dark eyes were fixed. She seemed to be looking backwards
to a far-distant time. Her voice was low and monotonous as she
proceeded with her tale.

"The years had flown by since Miriam and Long Robin had divided
themselves from the tribe; and they had long since returned, though
still keeping aloof in part from the rest--still forming, as it
were, a separate party of their own. Long Robin had dealings with