Kilmeny of the Orchard 
     
    
   
   
    
     believe that it was visited in this fashion 
     
     on his innocent child! ” 
     
    

    
     “ No, I am not meaning that, Master. 
     
     That wasn’t where Margaret did wrong; 
     
     and though I never liked Ronald Fraser 
     
     over much, I must say this in his defence 
     
     —I believe he thought himself a free man 
     
     when he married Margaret. No, it’s 
     
     something else — something far worse. 
     
     It gives me a shiver whenever; :I think 
     
     of it. Oh, Master, the Good Book is 
     
     right when it says the sins of the par— 
     
     ents are visited on the children. There 
     
     isn’t a truer word in it than that from 
     
     cover to cover.” 
     
    

    
     “ What, in heaven’s name, is the mean- 
     
     ing of all this? ” exclaimed Eric. “ Tell 
     
     me what it is. I must know the whole 
     
     truth about Kilmeny. Do not torment 
     
     me.” 
     
    

    
     “ I am going to tell you the story, Mas- 
     
     ter, though it will be like opening an old 
     
     wound. No living person knows it but 
     
     Thomas and me. When you hear it you 
     
    

    
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