O PENING the outer door, old Nancy counterfeited great surprise at seeing Dr. Fox mounted on horseback, waiting impatiently to have his summons answered.

"Lor\' bress us!" she exclaimed, holding up both hands, "what bring you on here so airly, Massa Fox?"

"Nancy, have you seen anything of Mrs. Kenyon and Cleopatra?" asked the doctor abruptly.

"How should I see them?" asked Nancy. "I haven\'t been to the \'sylum sence las\' week."

"They have run away," explained Dr. Fox.

"Run away! Good Lor\'! What they gone and run away for?"

"Out of pure cussedness, I expect," returned the doctor in a tone of disgust. "Then you haven\'t seen them?—they haven\'t passed this way?"

"Not as I knows on. They wouldn\'t come to old Nancy. She couldn\'t help \'em."

"I was hoping you might have seen them," said Dr. Fox, disappointed. "I don\'t know where to look for them."

"How did they get away?" asked Nancy, fixing her round, bead-like eyes on the doctor, with an appearance of curiosity.

"I can\'t stop to talk," said Dr. Fox impatiently. "I must search for them, though I don\'t know where."

"I hope you\'ll find \'em, Massa Fox," said Nancy, rolling her eyes.

A sudden idea struck Dr. Fox. For a small sum he could enlist Nancy on his side, he thought.

"Look here, Nancy," he said, "these foolish woman may yet come this way. If they do, let me know in some way, so that I can catch them, and I\'ll give you—let me see—I\'ll give you five silver dollars."

"Will you really, Massa Fox?" exclaimed Nancy, in affected delight. "Oh, golly, how rich I\'ll be!"

"Of course you don\'t get it unless you earn it, Nancy."

"Oh, I\'ll work for it; I will, sure, Massa Fox."

"If they come here, manage to lock them up in your cabin, and then come to me."

"You may \'pend on me, Massa Doctor. Oh, yes, you may \'pend on me."

"That secures her co-operation," thought the deluded doctor. "Five dollars is a fortune to her."

He would not have felt quite so confident if he had heard Nancy\'s soliloquy after his departure.

"Mean old hunks!" she exclaimed. "So he thinks he\'s gwine to buy old Nancy for five dollars! He\'s mighty mistaken, I reckon, I won\'t give up the poor darlings for no such money."

No doubt the ten dollars she had received from Mrs. Kenyon had its effect; but, to do old Nancy justice, she had a good heart, and, fond as she was of money, would not have sold the secret of those who put confidence in her, even if there had been no money paid her for keeping it.

Mrs. Kenyon, hidden in the loft, heard the conversation with anxiety, lest Nancy should yield to the temptation and betray her place of concealment. When the colloquy was over, and Dr. Fox had ridden away, she felt relieved.

"Thank you, Nancy," she said gratefully, peering over the edge. "You are indeed a good friend to me."

"I sent Massa Fox off with a flea in his ear," said Nancy, her portly form shaken by a broad laugh.

"I shall not forget your kindness, Nancy.

"Is Clopatry awake?" asked Nancy.

"Yes," said a smothered voice from the straw. "Is Antony come?"

"Aint seen no gemman of that name, Miss Clopatry."

"I hope he hasn\'t forgotten his appointment," said the queen anxiously.

"What does he look like, in case I see him, Miss Clopatry?"

"He looks like a prince," said Cleopatra. "He has an air of command. He\'s a general, you know."

"You couldn\'t tell me what color hair he\'s got!" said the practical Nancy. "I don\'t know much about princes."

Cleopatra looked perplexed. She had never thought particularly about the personal appearance of her hero.

"I expect it\'s black," she said; "but he\'ll ask for me. You\'ll know him by that."

"All right, Miss Clopatry. If I see him, I\'ll send him right along. Now, what\'ll you have for breakfast?"

"Anything you have, Nancy. We don\'t want to put you to too much trouble."

"Oh, Lor\............