Thee.'

"For a long while he lay and gazed at his son, and spoke in a feeble
voice at last.

"'Ernest, my boy, you are very young; but you have a good heart; you
can understand, no doubt, that a promise given to a dying man is
sacred; a promise to a father . . . Do you feel that you can be
trusted with a secret, and keep it so well and so closely that even
your mother herself shall not know that you have a secret to keep?
There is no one else in this house whom I can trust to-day. You will
not betray my trust, will you?'

"'No, father.'

"'Very well, then, Ernest, in a minute or two I will give you a
sealed packet that belongs to M. Derville; you must take such care of
it that no one can know that you have it; then you must slip out of
the house and put the letter into the post-box at the corner.'

"'Yes, father.'

"'Can I depend upon you?'

"'Yes, father.'

"'Come and kiss me. You have made death less bitter to me, dear boy.
In six or seven years' time you will understand the importance of this
secret, and you will be well rewarded then for your quickness and
obedience, you will know then how much I love you. Leave me alone for