Jessup looked at his daughter questioningly.
"There is so little to do," she said, "but I am obliged all the same."
"Yes, yes. We are both obliged. Don't forget to say as much to the mistress," said Jessup.
Judith seized his hand, and shook it with a vigor that made him cry out with a spasm of pain. Then her face flushed, and a strange, unholy light shot into her eyes.
"Not so well as you think, or a grip of the hand like that wouldn't have made you wince so. You may have need of me, yet," she said, turning upon Ruth; "to my thinking, it's more than likely."
"I hope not," answered Ruth; "and I am sure that all who love my father hope so too."
"Of which I am one," was the quick reply. "You may make sure of that. No one wants to see Jessup about more than I do. Though he does come so seldom to the public, it will be a holiday when he orders the next can of beer at the 'Two Ravens.' So, hoping for the best, good-day to both of you."
CHAPTER XLIII.
THE LOST LETTER.