“Miss Theodora Bostal?”
“Yes.”
“And how came she to be there, without anybody’s knowledge?”
Nell, seeing there was no hope for it, dried her eyes and gave the following account with composure:
Miss Bostal had for some months been in the habit of asking Nell, from time to time, to let her sleep with Nell for the night, on the plea that the Colonel had stayed at Stroan, and that she was afraid of sleeping at Shingle End all by herself. She had begged Nell not to mention the fact even to her uncle, alleging that if it were to become known that her father’s house was sometimes left unprotected, it would certainly be broken into. Nell had seen nothing extraordinary in this, and had readily given shelter to her friend on half a dozen different occasions.
“I believe you were in the habit of going to Shingle End every morning and evening; that you were on intimate terms with her father and herself, and that you would chat with her about everything that happened at the inn?”
“Yes,” said Nell.
“And is it a fact that the robberies at the Blue Lion always took place when Miss Bostal was sleeping under the roof?”
“Only at first,” said Nell, earnestly. “The last time she slept there was the night Mr. King was robbed.”
“How was it that you did not, on that occasion, mention to your uncle that she had been sleeping with you?”