Lodgers! at that word the expanding soul of Mrs. Saunders reclosed
hermetically; the last warning of Waife revibrated in her ears this white
neckclothed gentleman, was he not a rat?

"No, sir, I ha'n't no lodgers."

"But you have had some lately, eh? a crippled elderly man and a little
girl."

"Don't know anything about them; leastways," said Mrs. Saunders, suddenly
remembering that she was told less to deny facts than to send inquirers
upon wrong directions," leastways, at this blessed time. Pray, sir, what
makes you ask?"

"Why, I was instructed to come down to ------, and find out where this
person, one William Waife, had gone. Arrived yesterday, ma'am. All I
could hear is, that a person answering to his description left the place
several days ago, and had been seen by a boy, who was tending sheep, to
come down the lane to your house, and you were supposed to have lodgers
(you take lodgers sometimes, I think, ma'am), because you had been buying
some trifling articles of food not in your usual way of custom.
Circumstantial evidence, ma'am: you can have no motive to conceal the
truth."

"I should think not indeed, sir," retorted Mrs. Saunders, whom the
ominous words "circumstantial evidence" set doubly on her guard. "I did
see a gentleman such as you mention, and a pretty young lady, about ten
days agone, or so, and they did lodge here a night or two, but they are
gone to--"