abriel Pendle,' cried Bell, with a toss of
her head. 'You can tell the whole town so if you like. Neither he nor I
will contradict you.'

'It's as true as true!' growled Mosk. 'My daughter's going to be a
lady.'

'I congratulate you both,' said Cargrim, gravely. 'This will be a
surprise to the bishop,' and feeling himself unequal to the situation,
he made his escape.

'Well, father,' said Bell, 'this is a pretty kettle of fish, this is!'

CHAPTER XXIII

IN THE LIBRARY

Certainly there was little enough to admire in Mr Cargrim's character,
still he was not altogether a bad man. In common with his
fellow-creatures he also had his good qualities, but these were somewhat
rusty for want of use. As Mrs Rawdon Crawley, _nee_ Sharp, remarked,
most people can be good on five thousand a year; and if Cargrim had been
high-placed and wealthy he would no doubt have developed his better
instincts for lack of reasons to make use of his worser. But being only
a poor curate, he had a long ladder to climb, which he thought could be
ascended more rapidly by kicking down all those who impeded his
progress, and by holding on to the skirts of those who were a few rungs
higher. Therefore he was not very nice in his distinction between good
and evil, and did not mind by what means he succeeded, so long as he was
successful. He knew very well that he was not a favourite with the
bishop, and that Dr Pendle would not give him more of the Levitical
loaves and fishes than he could help; but as the holder of the
Beorminster See was the sole dispenser of these viands with whom Cargrim
was acquainted, it behoved him at all risks to compel the bestowal of
gifts which were not likely to be given of free-will. Therefore, Cargrim
plotted, and planned, and schemed to learn the bishop's secret and set
him under his thumb.

But with all the will in the world this schemer was not clever enough to
deal with the evidence he had accumulated. The bishop had had an
understanding with Jentham; he had attempted to secure his silence, as
was proved by the torn-out butt of the cheque-book; he had--as Cargrim
suspected--killed the blackmailer to bury his secret in the grave, and
he had been warned by Mother Jael that she knew of his wicked act. This
was the evidence, but Cargrim did not know how to place it ship-shape,
in order to prove to Bishop Pendle that he had him in his power. It
needed a trained mind to grapple with these confused facts, to foll