serable and degraded as I was, I pursued and raised the watch
myself Have you not heard the name of Bell Calvert coupled with that
hideous and mysterious affair?"

"Yes, I have. In secret often I have heard it. But how came it that you
could never be found? How came it that you never appeared in defence of
the Honourable Thomas Drummond; you, the only person who could have
justified him?"

"I could not, for I then fell under the power and guidance of a wretch
who durst not for the soul of him be brought forward in the affair.
And, what was worse, his evidence would have overborne mine, for he
would have sworn that the man who called out and fought Colwan was the
same he met leaving my apartment, and there was an end of it. And,
moreover, it is well known that this same man--this wretch of whom I
speak, never mistook one man for another in his life, which makes the
mystery of the likeness between this incendiary and Drummond the more
extraordinary."

"If it was Drummond, after all that you have asserted, then are my
surmises still wrong."

"There is nothing of which I can be more certain than that it was not
Drummond. We have nothing on earth but our senses to depend upon. If
these deceive us, what are we to do? I own I cannot account for it; nor
ever shall be able to account for it as long as I live."

"Could you know the man in black, if you saw him again?"

"I think I could, if I saw him walk or run: his gait was very
particular. He walked as if he had been flat-soled, and his legs made
of steel, without any joints in his feet or ankles."

"The very same! The very same! The very same! Pray will you take a few
days' journey into the country with me, to look at such a man?"

"You have preserved my life, and for you I will do anything. I will
accompany you with pleasure: and I think I can say that I will know
him, for his form left an impression on my heart not soon to be
effaced. But of this I am sure that my unworthy companion will
recognize him, and that he will be able to swear to his identity every
day as long as he lives."

"Where is he? Where is he? Oh! Mrs. Calvert, where is he?"

"Where is he? He is the wretch whom you heard giving me up to the
death; who, after experiencing every mark of affection that a poor
ruined being could confer, and after committing a thousand atrocities
of which she was ignorant, became an informer to save his diabolical
life, and attempted to offer up mine as a sacrifice fo