harisees do,' replied Graham, dryly; 'not that I
rank you among the hypocrites, bishop, so do not take my remark in too
literal a sense.'

'I am not so thin-skinned or self-conscious as to do so, Graham. But
your meaning of a Jesuitical Rodin?'

'It is explained in _The Wandering Jew_ of Eugene Sue, bishop. You
should read that novel if only to arrive by analogy at the true
character of your chaplain. Rodin is one of the personages in the book,
and Rodin,' said the doctor decisively, 'is Cargrim!'

'You are severe, doctor. Michael is an estimable young man.'

'Michael and the Dragon!' said Graham, playing upon the name. 'Humph! he
is more like the latter than the former. Mr Michael Cargrim is the young
serpent as Satan is the old one.'

'I always understood that you considered Satan a myth, doctor!'

'So I do; so he is; a bogey of the Middle and Classical Ages constructed
out of Pluto and Pan. But he serves excellently well for an illustration
of your pet parson.'

'Cargrim is not a pet of mine,' rejoined the bishop, coldly, 'and I do
not say that he is a perfect character. Still, he is not bad enough to
be compared to Satan. You speak too hurriedly, doctor, and, if you will
pardon my saying so, too irreligiously.'

'I beg your pardon, I forgot that I was addressing a bishop. But as to
that young man, he is a bad and dangerous character.'

'Doctor, doctor,' protested the bishop, raising a deprecating hand.

'Yes, he is,' insisted Graham; 'his goodness and meekness are all on the
surface! I am convinced that he is a kind of human mole who works
underground, and makes mischief in secret ways. If you have a cupboard
with a skeleton, bishop, take care Mr Cargrim doesn't steal the key.'

Graham spoke with some meaning, for since the illness of Dr Pendle after
Jentham's visit, he had suspected that the bishop was worried in his
mind, and that he possessed a secret which was wearing him out. Had he
known that the strange visitor was one and the same with the murdered
man, he might have spoken still more to the point; but the doctor was
ignorant of this and consequently conceived the bishop's secret to be
much more harmless than it really was. However, his words touched his
host nearly, for Dr Pendle started and grew nervous, and looked so
haggard and worried that Graham continued his speech without giving him
time to make a remark.

'However, I did not come here to discuss Cargrim,' he said cheerfully,
'but becau