"Twice, sah."
"He sho come in de night time den!" Andy broke in. "I nebber seed 'im once!"
Norton bent close:
"How long did he stay?"
Minerva fidgeted, hesitated again and finally said:
"Once he stay about er hour——"
"And the other time?"
She looked in vain for a way of escape, the perspiration standing in beads on her shining black face:
"He stay all night, sah."
A moment of stillness followed. Norton's eyes closed, and his face became a white mask. He breathed deeply and then spoke quietly: