"
"It can't be the same," said Miss Grogram; but I could see that she
was trembling.
"Oh laws! what will become of us?" said Mrs. Jones.
"You can all prove that I didn't touch them, and that I warned her
not," said Aunt Sally. In the mean time the two young ladies had
almost fainted behind their fans.
"But how had it come to pass," asked Miss Macmanus, "that the
gentleman had--"
"I know nothing more about it, cousin," said I; "only it does seem
that there is an odd coincidence."
Immediately after this I took my leave. I saw that I had avenged my
friend, and spread dismay in the hearts of these who had injured
him. I had learned in the course of the evening at what hotel the
five ladies were staying; and in the course of the next morning I
sauntered into the hall, and finding one of the porters alone, asked
if they were still there. The man told me that they had started by
the earliest diligence. "And," said he, "if you are a friend of
theirs, perhaps you will take charge of these things, which they
have left behind them?" So saying, he pointed to a table at the
back of the hall, on which were lying the black bag, the black
needle-case, the black pin cushion, and the black pen-wiper.
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