se you married her in secret，and he'll disinherit you．Then I'll get the house and land when the old man dies！But don't worry，I'm a good brother to you．I won't tell him，and you'll find the money to pay back，I know you will．’
‘Where can I get the money from？’cried Godfrey．‘I tell you，I haven't got any！’
‘You could borrow It，'said Dunstan carelessly．‘Or wait…I've had a better idea．You could sell your horse．’
‘Sell Wildfire！You know how muchl love that horse！’
‘Well，you could ride him to the hunt tomorrow．I know two or three men who'd be interested in buying him，and they'll be at the hunt，I'm sure．It'd be easy．’
‘No，I haven't got time to go hunting tomorrow．I…I'm going to Mrs Osgood's birthday dance．’
‘Aha！'said Dunstan，laughing．‘And perhaps you'll see sweet Miss Nancy there—and you'll dance with her－and you'll talk of love…’
‘Be quiet！'shouted Godfrey，his face turning red．‘Don't speak of Miss Nancy like that，or I'll kill you！’
‘Don't get so angry，brother，’answered Dunstan calmly．‘You've got a very good chance with her．In fact，I advise you to be nice to her．You and I know that Molly's started drink ing．Well，if she drinks too much one day and dies，then you could marry Nancy．She wouldn't mind being a second wife，if she didn't know there was a first．And luckily you've got a kind brother who'll keep your secret well．’
Godfrey's face was white now，and he was trembling．‘Look，Dunstan，I've nearly had enough of this．You can push a man too far，you know．Perhaps I'll go to the Squire now and confess everything to him．He'll discover the truth one day，because Molly says she'll come and tell him．She wants every－one to know we re married．When the Squire knows the truth，you won't get any more money from me！’
Dunstan replied lightly，‘Do what you like，brother．’
Godfrey hesitated．He knew he had fallen into Dunstan's trap，when he made the mistake of marrying Molly．It was Dunstan who had Introduced his brother to Molly，hoping that Godfrey would fall in love and marry her．Dunstan was clearly delighted that his evil plan had succeeded．Godfrey was now in a difficult situation．He no longer loved his young wife，and could not stop thinking of Nancy Lammeter．He felt sure that with Nancy as his wife he would not need to have secrets，and could be open and honest with everybody．But for the moment he had to give Dunstan whatever he wanted，keep Molly happy，and lie to his father and his friends．If he told his father the truth，the situation would become impossible．The Squire would disinherit him and he would be just a poor working man for the rest of his life．And far worse than that，he would lose any hope of marrying Nancy．No！He could not accept that．He would find the money for Dunstan，and wait for the situa－tion to get better．Living with fear in his heart，the fear of be－ing discovered，was better than living without Nancy's love．
He turned to Dunstan．‘It's just like you to talk of selling Wildfire—the best horse I've ever had！’
‘Let me sell him for you…you know I'm good at buying and selling．I can ride him to the hunt for you tomorrow，and bring you back the money．But you must decide．You lent me that money，and you'll have to pay it back to the Squire．So it's your problem，not mine！’
Godfrey thought for a moment．‘All right，’he said．‘But make sure you bring me back all the money，Dunstan！’
The next morning，as Dunstan was riding Wildfire out of Rav－eloe，he passed the old quarry．All the stone had been taken out of it and it was no longer used；now all that was left was a deep hole full of reddish water．Opposite the quarry was Silas Marn－er's cottage．Dunstan suddenly had an idea．‘Everybody in Raveloe talks of the weaver's money—he must have a lot hid－den away in that cottage！Why doesn't Godfrey borrow some money from him，and pay him back when he becomes the Squire？’He wondered whether to go back to the Red House at once，to tell Godfrey about this wonderful idea of his，but he did not want to miss the hunt，so he decided to continue on his way．
At the hunt he met several friends and neighbours，and be fore the hunt started he managed to sell Wildfire for a good price．The money would be paid when he brought the horse to the neighbour's house later that day．Dunstan knew it would be safer to take the horse there immediately，so that he could be sure of receiving the money．But he was confident that he could take care of Wildfire during the hunt，and so，after a glass or two of whisky，he joined the other riders in the fields．This time，however，he was not as lucky as usual，and horse and rid…er fell while jumping a gate．Dunstan got up，shaken but unhurt，but poor Wildfire's back was broken，and in a few mo－ments he died．
Dunstan looked around，and was glad to see that no other riders had noticed his accident．He did not want people to think he was a bad rider．He did not care much about Wildfire，be－cause he thought he now had a much better plan to offer God－frey．The worst thing was that he would have to walk home，something he was not at all used to doing．
He drank some more whisky from the bottle he kept in his pocket，and started down the country road．He kept thinking about Silas's money．There would certainly be enough for his own needs as well as Godfrey's．Dunstan thought it would be easy to frighten the weaver a little，and then Silas would quick－ly agree to lend his money．
It was four o'clock in the afternoon，and the whole country－side was covered by a thick mist．Dunstan did not see anyone on his way back to Raveloe．He knew he was getting close to the old quarry，although he could not see the road in front of him．At last he saw light coming from the weaver's cottage，and he decided to knock at the door．‘Why not ask the old man for the money now？he thought．
But when he knocked loudly，there was no reply．And when he pushed the door，it opened．Dunstan found himself in front of a bright fire which showed every corner of the small living…room．Silas Marner was not there．Dunstan was tired and cold，so he went quickly to sit by the warm fire．As he sat down，he noticed a small piece of meat cooking over the fire．It was hanging from a large door key． ‘So，the old man's cooking meat for his supper，is he？'thought Dunstan．‘But where is he？Why is his door unlocked？Perhaps he went out to fetch some wood for the fire，and fell into the quarry！Perhaps he's dead！'this was an interesting new idea．‘And if he's dead，who inherits his mon－ey？Who would know that anybody had come to take it away？’And the most important question of all—‘Where is the money？’
Dunstan's excitement made him forget that the weaver could still be alive．He wanted Silas to be dead，and he wanted Silas's money．He looked round the cottage again．There was very little furniture，just a bed，the loom，three chairs and a table．Dunstan looked under the bed，but the money was not there．Then he noticed a plsce on the floor，near the loom，where the floorboards looked different．By pulling up one of the boards，he discovered Silas's hiding－place．He took out the two heavy bags filled with gold，put the boards back and hurried to the door．
Outside，the rain was falling heavily，and he could not see anything at all．Carrying the heavy bags，he stepped forward into the darkness．
3 Where is Silas's gold？
When Dunstan Cass left the cottage，Silas Marner was only a hundred metres away．He was walking home from the village，where he had gone to buy what he needed for his next day's work．His legs were tired，but he felt almost happy．He was looking forward to supper…time，when he would bring out his gold．Tonight he had an extra reason to hurry home．He was going to eat hot meat，which was unusual for him．And it would cost him nothing，because someone had giv…en him a piece of meat as a present．He had left it cooking over the fire．The door key was needed to hold it safely in place，but Silas was not at all worried about leaving his gold in the cot…tage with the door unlocked．He could not imagine that a thief would find his way throug