Bill obeyed, but on his return with the coffee kept glancing apprehensively in the direction of the bushes.
"I wonder where the man did go!" exclaimed little Mary presently. "I've been watching, and don't know how he could get away without being seen."
"Beggars are sometimes very quick at hiding, little lassie," remarked Mr. Lilburn.
"Ha, ha! so they are!" cried the voice of the beggar, sounding as though he stood just behind her chair.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, with a start and a backward glance. "Why, where is he? I don't see him at all."
"Don't be frightened, daughter," Mr. Embury said in an encouraging tone.
"No, bit lassie, he's not dangerous," remarked Mr. Lilburn, with a reassuring smile.
"Oh, do you know him, sir?" she asked, looking up inquiringly into his face.
"I didna see him," replied the old gentleman laughingly, "but judging by his voice I think I know who he is—a quiet, inoffensive countrymon o' me ain."
"Ah, yes, a rather intimate acquaintance of yours, sir, is he not?" queried Norton, with a searching look into the face of the old gentleman and a half mocking smile.