o us and made us an effusive greeting,
praising the situation and convenience of the place, and wishing us a
pleasant sojourn. He then was silent for a moment, and added, "Now there
is a matter of some importance on which I should like your opinion." At
this the warder who was with him, a strong, stolid-looking man, with an
expression at once slightly contemptuous and obviously kind, held up his
hand and said, "You will, no doubt, sir, remember that you have
undertaken--" "Not a word, not a word," said our friend; "of course you
are right! I have really nothing to say to these gentlemen."

We went up to the building, which now became visible, with its long and
stately front of stone. Here again we were admitted with some
precaution, and after a few minutes there came a tall and
benevolent-looking man, to whom Amroth spoke at some length. The man
then came up to me, said that he was very glad to welcome me, and that
he would be delighted to show us the place.

We went through fine and airy corridors, into which many doors, as of
cells, opened. Occasionally a man or a woman, attended by a male or a
female warder, passed us. The inmates had all the same kind of air--a
sort of amused dignity, which was very marked. Presently our companion
opened a door with his key and we went in. It was a small,
pleasantly-furnished room. Some books, apparently of devotion, lay on
the table. There was a little kneeling-desk near the window, and the
room had a half-monastic air about it. When we entered, an elderly man,
with a very serene face, was looking earnestly into the door of a
cupboard in the wall, which he was holding open; there was, so far as I
could see, nothing in the cupboard; but the inmate seemed to be
struggling with an access of rather overpowering mirth. He bowed to us.
Our conductor greeted him respectfully, and then said, "There is a
stranger here who would like a little conversation with you, if you can
spare the time."

"By all means," said the inmate, with a very ingratiating smile. "It is
very kind of him to call upon me, and my time is entirely at his
disposal."

Our conductor said to me that he and Amroth had some brief business to
transact, and that they would call for me again in a moment. The inmate
bowed, and seemed almost impatient for them to depart. He motioned me to
a chair, and the moment they left us he began to talk with great
animation. He asked me if I was a new inmate, and when I said no, only a