"Ah, I have it!" I cried, brave-hearted liar that I was; "he meansmy Aunt Eliza and her daughter, Julia! You remember Aunt Eliza,and Julia?"

"I never heard you speak of them before," she exclaimed, stillunconvinced.

Good reason, too, for up to this awful moment I never had an AuntEliza or a cousin Julia, but relatives must be found to fit theemergency.