But having begun, very foolishly, by passing Thora off as
his own bairn, he was obliged to continue to recognize her as such
before folk, still believing that her true father would reappear."
Bailie Duke was not altogether satisfied with this explanation.
He turned to Thora and said: "Did Carver always treat you kindly,
Thora--as a father?"
Thora looked up appealingly to him, with tears on her cheek,
saying: "No, Mr. Duke. He was good to me before folk; but he was
very hard sometimes."
"And your mother--I mean Mrs. Kinlay--was she good to you?"
"She has aye been good to me; but not like a mother," said Thora,
as plaintively as a lost lamb.
"And you never suspected that she was not your true mother?" asked
Mr. Duke.
"Not till Colin Lothian spoke to me about it."
"There is certainly some mystery about all this," said the bailie,
turning to Andrew Drever. "But it remains with us to communicate
with this Mr. Quendale, if he is still alive."
"He is not alive," said Andrew, with conviction.
"Oh, then, you know something of him?"
"Yes," said Mr. Drever; and here he turned to me and asked me, to
my surprise, to relate all that had occurred during my solitary
voyage in the Falcon. I did not see what possible application this
could have to the case, or how it could be connected with the
mystery of Thora's parentage.
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