t loud enough for the
priest to hear him:

"'Gad! I've seen him before, once upon a time; and well I remember the
face, for it is not one to be forgotten."

The baronet, on looking round, saw the priest, and desired him to follow
them to his study.

"I beg your pardon, Sir Thomas," said the officer, "we now place his
reverence safely in your hands; here, too, is your pocket-book and
pistols."

"Hand them to him, sir," replied the baronet, nodding toward the priest;
"and that is enough."

"But, Sir Thomas--"

"What is it, sir? Have you not done your duty?"

"I hope so, sir; but if it would not be troublesome, sir, perhaps you
would give us a receipt; an acknowledgment, sir."

"For what?"

"For the priest's body, sir, in the first place, and then for the
pocket-book and pistols."

"If I were a little stronger," replied the baronet, in an angry voice,
"I would write the receipt upon your own body with a strong horsewhip;
begone, you impudent scoundrel!"

Skipton turned upon him a bitter and vindictive look, and replied, "Oh,
very well, sir--come, Tom, you are witness that I did my duty."

Sir Thomas on entering the study threw himself listlessly on a sofa, and
desired Gibson to retire.

"Take a seat, sir," said he, addressing Father M'Mahon. "I am far from
well, and must rest a little before I speak to you; I know not what is
the matter with me, but I feel all out of sorts."

He then drew a long breath, and laid his head upon his hand, as if to
recover more clearly the powers of his mind and intellect. His eyes,
full of thought not unmingled with anxiety, were fixed upon the carpet,
and he seemed for a time wrapped in deep and painful abstraction. At
length he raised himself up, and drawing his breath apparently with more
freedom began the conversation.

"Well, sir," said he, in a tone that implied more of authority and
haughtiness than of courtesy or gentlemanly feeling; "it seems the
property of which I have been robbed has come into your possession."

"It is true, sir; and allow me to place it in your own hands exactly as
I got it. I took the precaution to seal the pocket-book the moment it
was returned to me, and although it was for a short time in possession
of the officers of justice, yet it is untouched, and the seal I placed
on it unbroken."

The baronet's hand, as he took the pocket-book, trembled with an
agitation which he could not repress, although he did everything in his
power to subdu