She went to bed with the matter still undecided, and the first thing she thought of when she opened her eyes the next day was the ring. A conversation overheard between her mother and Manda, the cook, added to her uneasiness.
"Miss Mary, did you know there was a 'tective loafin' round town?"
"A detective? No, I did not. If there is, it won't make any difference to you and me," answered Mrs. Parton.
"Maybe it don't make no difference to white folks, but looks like they's always 'spicioning niggers," continued Manda, with a shake of her head. "Tilly 'lows it's that thar ring of old Marse Gilpin's."
"Hardly," said Mrs. Parton, with a laugh. Belle, remembering the stranger, wondered if it might not be true.
Such talk among the servants of Friendship was nothing new. Since the first excitement over the disappearance of the ring, it had broken out periodically; but to Belle this morning it seemed a strange coincidence. Suppose some one else had seen the ring in Morgan's possession? And now it occurred to her to tell Miss Celia.
On her way to the Fairs' she met the stranger again, this time in front of Mrs. Graham's school. He was looking about him with an air of interest, and as Belle approached he asked if this was not the Bishop residence.
"It was," she answered, "but it is a school now."
The gentleman thanked her and walked on.
"I believe he is a detective," she said to herself.