He knew just enough, from what
he had heard at various times, to associate making a will with gifts of
money--and the pretended explanation silenced and satisfied him."
"Did the Rector understand it?" Stella asked.
"Yes. Like many other Englishmen in his position, although he was not
ready at speaking French, he could read the language, and could fairly
well understand it, when it was spoken. After my wife's death, he kindly
placed the boy, for a few days, under the care of his housekeeper. Her
early life had been passed in the island of Martinique, and she was able
to communicate with the friendless foreigner in his own language. When
he disappeared, she was the only person who could throw any light on his
motive for stealing the papers. On the day when he entered the house,
she caught him peeping through the keyhole of the study door. He
must have seen where the confession was placed, and the color of the
old-fashioned blue paper, on which it was written, would help him to
identify it. The next morning, during the Rector's absence, he brought
the manuscript to the housekeeper, and asked her to translate it into
French, so that he might know how much money was left to him in 'the
will.
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