He was an indulgent father, and soon was joining in the conversation, when a ring at the door-bell announced more company.
The stranger entered, and neither aunt nor niece could repress a start of astonishment as they saw he was accompanied by the detective.
But the surprise had scarcely commenced; for Miss Saunders was debating with herself whether she had better take her nephew aside and state that the officer was in her employ, when her hesitation was cut short by seeing the detective suddenly lay his hand on Mr. Coleman's arm, with the words,—
"You are my prisoner."
It is needless to tell of the shrieks of Alice, the horror and secret remorse of Aunt Clarissa, the surprise and displeasure of the host, and the despair of the convicted thief.
In vain the latter exclaimed in accents of terror, "You have mistaken the man!"
The stranger referred in explicit words to a meeting in Sing Sing: while the officer informed him that, as the stolen articles had been found in his trunk, he might as well prepare for a return to government service.
[CHAPTER XIX.]
THE ART OF LYING.
THE mortification of Alice at the degradation of a man who had dared sue for her hand did not speedily pass away. The intimacy had advanced much farther than Aunt Clarissa ever dreamed of. The young miss shuddered as she realized what might have been her doom if she had yielded to his entreaties and been privately married in the neighboring city.