For there was neither father nor mother at the
Brae, only Janet and the boys; though Angus, the
oldest, was twenty-two, and practising as a solicitor
in the town. He was fond of Janet, and thought
her a good housekeeper, but by virtue of his two
years’ seniority he felt himself authorised now and
then to advise on domestic affairs. :

He was now on a fortnight’s visit to London, a
rare treat for the young Scotchman.

Janet wrote her letter to him, and then forgot her
troubles. Bridget was certainly a hard-working girl,
and evidently anxious to please. _ It was no use fore-
seeing calamitics that might never befall the house-
hold. But, alas for poor Janet! trouble did come of
that hasty engagement of Bridget Morne, and in
such a serious form that there was no glossing it
over.

A tea-party at Red-howe, the large house on the
hill, was in prospect, and Janet and the boys were to
go. It was a grand affair. Janet’s white muslin
was to figure at it, and all her small ornaments.
Cousin Allan’s brooch, too; that might be worn.
Indeed the boys insisted on it; though Janet hesi-
tated and talked of its being too fine for her.

‘There, put it on. I won’t take you without it,’
said Roy, with a grand assumption of manly dignity.

So Janet went upstairs, but only to return looking
‘scared and flurried.

‘Which of you boys has hid my brooch?’ she
asked, anxiously; ‘it was in the jewel-case. I
showed it to Uncle Will just before I locked it up.’

But Roy and Johnnie were guiltless this time.
Fond of fun and mischief as they were, they would
not have played practical jokes in so serious a
matter.

They rushed upstairs to search the box; they
turned Janet’s neat room upside down; but no, not
a trace of the brooch could be found. It had dis-
appeared, case and all.

It was a mystery to Janet, and the boys looked
very solemn, and whispered a good deal to each
other. :

The party had to start, however, for Red-howe,
though the evening was spoiled for Janet.

Next day, the old cook and the young waiting-
maid came to Janet to say that they were not going
to stop in a suspected house, and either they should
leave or the mistress must send ‘ that girl’ home.

That girl was, of course, Bridget, who with tears
protested her innocence of all knowledge of the
missing brooch.

But cook severely: asserted that till the day before
yesterday Mr. Morne had been in prison, and was
then suddenly bailed out, with whose money no one
knew.

The assertion was true, and though poor Bridget
sobbed out something about Gipsy Jem providing
the money, cook and Nancy shook their heads and
pinched up their lips.

The boys were sorry when it came to Janet taking
Bridget home, the poor housemaid’s face swelled
with crying. She might not be the thief; but then
things don’t go of themselves, and she came of a
bad lot. .

The sins of the fathers will be visited on the
children, you sec, now as of old.

 

 

-*,Roy and Johnnie watched the-pair down the lane,
and wondered what Angus would say when he heard
of it all. ‘

‘ Won't he just have his long face on?’ said Roy.

‘And won’t Janet be looked after -for a bit?’
added Johnnie.

Three days of great uneasiness crept by. On the
fourth morning a letter came from Angus.’ At
Uncle Wills suggestion the story of the missing
brooch had not been written to him; he could do no
good, and it would be time enough to tell him on his
return, since the supposed offender had been sent
away.

The letter was most astounding. It was to Roy.

‘T ought to have written before,’ he said ; ‘but my
friend took me to Brighton for a couple of days, and
on my return I found a parcel awaiting me, duly
registered, and purporting to be studs from Cousin
Allan, but really containing an emerald brooch.
What is the meaning of this? Please explain.’

Roy gasped and dropped the letter. It was the
brooch !

Johnnie gave a shout of delight, and Janet sighed
a deep sigh of relief. Then Bridget was no thief,
poor girl! But how had the brooch gone to Angus,
and where were the studs ?

Roy was now to be cross-examined. He had ‘ done
up’ the parcel in the study, just after Uncle Will
called, he remembered perfectly ; for he saw the little
case on the table at the time, and was afraid of for-
getting it if he left it any longer.

‘That would be twelve o’clock, Roy; just when I
went upstairs to show Bridget how to clean the door
panels. After that I ran down and fetched the box
to lock it up.’

‘But, Roy,’ said Johnnie, thoughtfully, ‘how could
you find the stud-case on the library table when I
saw you put it into your jacket pocket at breakfast-
time, when Janet first said, “Those had better go to
Angus ?”’?

Two heads are better than one.
a poser.

- ‘You sent my brooch instead of the studs!’ said
Janet; ‘the cases were both red, and nearly the
same size,’

‘But where are the studs?’ asked Roy, rubbing
his head.

Just then the door burst open, and Nancy some-
what pertly went up to Roy, and presented him with
a red case—Angus’s studs. :

‘There’ll be an outcry about these next, sir,’ she
said ; ‘ left in your old jacket pocket, that the-mistress
told me to mend.’ And then she flounced out of the
room again.

Tt was all explained now. Roy had taken the
right stud-case at breakfast-time, slipped it into his
pocket, and forgotten it; then coming into the study
later, and finding a red case on the table; he had
thought it to be Angus’s, and there and then: seized
it, Wrapped it up, and directed it.

Janet was glad to hear Uncle Will’s step in the
hall that morning. She had waited for his counsel
before taking any steps about poor Bridget. She put
Angus’s letter in his hand.

He read it, and then firmly fixed his eye-glass in
his eye. That meant business.

The question was