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HIS THOUGHTS STILL CLOUDED by Winston&039;s betrayal, Mattheas ascending the stairs to look in upon the istrate when he al with a tray upon which sat a bowl of pap "How is hei" Matthew asked

"Not verra well, " she said, her voice low "He&039;s havin&039; sori any good"

"I&039;ve seen it do wonders, though That afflicted blood&039;s got to be rid of"

"I hope you&039;re right I&039; hastened by all this bleeding" He started to slide past her up the stairs, which was a precarious

"Just a moment, sir!" she said "You have a visitor"

"a visitori Whoi"

"The child, " she said "Violet adams She&039;s in the library, waitin&039; for you"

"Ohi" Matthew instantly went back down the stairs and entered the library His quick entrance startled the little girl, as standing before the openstudying a bishop she had picked up from the chessboard She jumped and backed away from him like a cornered deer

"Forgivetone He showed one palesture, while he held the rolled-up decree at his side "I should have announced id as if she h theOn this occasion she definitely was not grooht brown hair was loose about her shoulders and in need of washing, her tan-and-red-checked shift was held together with patches, and her shoes were near worn through

"You&039;ve been waiting for mei" Matthew asked She nodded "I presume this is not an errand on behalf of your father and motheri"

"No sir, " she answered "They sent me to fetch some water" Matthew looked down and sao empty buckets on the floor "I see But you decided to come here firsti"

"Yes sir"

"For what reasoni"

Violet carefully placed the chesspiece back in its proper place on the board "What are these, siri are they toysi"

"It&039;s a game called chess The pieces have different patterns of movement across the board"

"Ohhhh" She seemed much impressed "Like knuckles &039;n&039; stones, &039;ceptin&039; you play that in the dirt"

"I iine so, yes"

"They&039;re pretty, " she said "Did Mr Bidwell carve &039;e at the chessboard The tic of her upper lip had returned "Last night, " she said, "a rat got in my bed" Matthew didn&039;t quite kno to respond to this ot all tangled up in the beddin&039;s, " she went on "It couldn&039;t get out, and I could feel it down at et loose, neither Both of us were tryin&039; to get out Then et bit so I was screarabbed it up in the sheet and hit it with a candlestick, and then my mama started screamin&039; &039;cause there was blood everywhere and that sheet was ruined"

"I&039;m sorry, " Matthew said "It must have been trauht have added

"Trau - what, siri"

"I meant it must have been a fearsome experience"

"Yes sir" She nodded, and now she picked up a pawn and studied it in the sunlight "The thing about it, though is that near mornin&039;, I started rememberin&039; soin&039; in the Haed in his throat "Re whati"

"Whose voice it was" She put down the pawn and lifted her eyes to his "It&039;s still a fog and thinkin&039; about it makes my head hurt soin&039;" She took a breath and began to softly sing, in a sweet and clear timbre: "Come out, come out, my dames and dandies Come out, come out, and taste my candies"

"The ratcatcher, " Matthew said In histhe aol

"Yes sir It was Mr Linch&039;s voice I heard, from that room back there"

Matthew stared intensely into the child&039;s eyes "Tell me this, Violet: how did you knoas Linch&039;s voicei Had you ever heard that song beforei"

"One time he co ones, and black as night Mr Linch caht his potions and his sticker, and that hat he was singin&039; when he aitin&039; for the rats to get drunk"

"Did you tell anyone else about thisi Your mother and fatheri"

"No sir They don&039;t like for me to talk of it"

"Then you shouldn&039;t tell them you&039;ve been here to see et a terrible whippin&039;"

"You ought to get your water and go ho: when you entered the Hai Like a very bad odori" He was thinking of the decaying carcass "Or did you see or hear a dogi"

Violet shook her head "No sir, none of that Whyi"

"Well" Matthew reached down to the chessboard and traded positions between the king&039;s knight and the king&039;s bishop "If you were to describe this board and the pieces upon it to soed "I suppose that it&039;s a wooden board with light and dark squares and soame is ready to be playedi"

"I don&039;t know, sir I would say it is, but then again I don&039;t know the particulars"

"Yes" He shtly "and it is the particulars thatto tell me what you&039;ve remembered I know this has been very difficult for you"

"Yes sir But my mama says when the witch is burnt up my head won&039;t pain me no more" She picked up the two buckets "May I ask you somethin&039; now, siri&039;"

"You may"

"Why do you suppose Mr Linch was back there in the dark, singin&039; like thati"

"I don&039;t know, " he answered

"I thought on it all this ht coloring her face "It made my head ache so bad I almost cried, but it seemed like somethin&039; I had to keep thinkin&039; on" Violet didn&039;t speak for a moment, but Matthew could tell from the set of her jaw that she had come to an important conclusion "I think Mr Linch must be a friend of Satan&039;s That&039;s what I think"

"You ht find Mr Linchi"

an expression of alar to tell him, are youi"

"No I promise it I would just like to knohere he lives"

She hesitated for a few seconds, but she kneould find out anyway "at the end of Industry Street He lives in the very last house"

"Thank you"

"I don&039;t know if I was right to co "I mean to say if Mr Linch is a friend of the Devil, shouldn&039;t he be called to account for iti"

"He&039;ll be called for an accounting, " Matthew said "You ht to come Go ahead, now Get your water"