uss the situation or no as you may think
proper. Till then let us say no more. Luncheon will be over by two
o'clock or soon after, and the banquet will not begin till seven, so we
shall have plenty of time."

Hanky looked black and said nothing. As for Panky he was morally in a
state of collapse, and did not count.

Hardly had they reached the Mayor's house when the Mayor also arrived
with Dr. Downie and Mrs. Humdrum, both of whom had seen and recognised my
father in spite of his having dyed his hair. Dr. Downie had met him at
supper in Mr. Thims's rooms when he had visited Bridgeford, and naturally
enough had observed him closely. Mrs. Humdrum, as I have already said,
had seen him more than once when he was in prison. She and Dr. Downie
were talking earnestly over the strange reappearance of one whom they had
believed long since dead, but Yram imposed on them the same silence that
she had already imposed on the Professors.

"Professor Hanky," said she to Mrs. Humdrum, in Hanky's hearing, "is a
little alarmed at my having asked you to join our secret conclave. He is
not married, and does not know how well a woman can hold her tongue when
she chooses. I should have told you all that passed, for I mean to
follow your advice, so I thought you had better hear everything
yourself."

Hanky still looked black, but he said nothing. Luncheon was promptly
served, and done justice to in spite of much preoccupation; for if there
is one thing that gives a better appetite than another, it is a Sunday
morning's service with a charity sermon to follow. As the guests might
not talk on the subject they wanted to talk about, and were in no humour
to speak of anything else, they gave their whole attention to the good
things that were before them, without so much as a thought about
reserving themselves for the evening's banquet. Nevertheless, when
luncheon was over, the Professors were in no more genial, manageable,
state of mind than they had been when it began.

When the servants had left the room, Yram said to Hanky, "You saw the
prisoner, and he was the man you met on Thursday night?"

"Certainly, he was wearing the forbidden dress and he had many quails in
his possession. There is no doubt also that he was a foreign devil."

At this point, it being now nearly half-past two, George came in, and
took a seat next to Mrs. Humdrum--between her and his mother--who of
course sat at the head of the table with the Mayor oppos