ore a justice of the peace, and
that in what he did or said, he was guided entirely by his own
discretion.

'Gentlemen,' said Brass, drawing off his glove, and crawling in spirit
upon the ground before them, 'I will justify the tenderness with which
I know I shall be treated; and as, without tenderness, I should, now
that this discovery has been made, stand in the worst position of the
three, you may depend upon it I will make a clean breast. Mr
Witherden, sir, a kind of faintness is upon my spirits--if you would
do me the favour to ring the bell and order up a glass of something
warm and spicy, I shall, notwithstanding what has passed, have a
melancholy pleasure in drinking your good health. I had hoped,' said
Brass, looking round with a mournful smile, 'to have seen you three
gentlemen, one day or another, with your legs under the mahogany in my
humble parlour in the Marks. But hopes are fleeting. Dear me!'

Mr Brass found himself so exceedingly affected, at this point, that he
could say or do nothing more until some refreshment arrived. Having
partaken of it, pretty freely for one in his agitated state, he sat
down to write.

The lovely Sarah, now with her arms folded, and now with her hands
clasped behind her, paced the room with manly strides while her brother
was thus employed, and sometimes stopped to pull out her snuff-box and
bite the lid. She continued to pace up and down until she was quite
tired, and then fell asleep on a chair near the door.

It has been since supposed, with some reason, that this slumber was a
sham or feint, as she contrived to slip away unobserved in the dusk of
the afternoon. Whether this was an intentional and waking departure,
or a somnambulistic leave-taking and walking in her sleep, may remain a
subject of contention; but, on one point (and indeed the main one) all
parties are agreed. In whatever state she walked away, she certainly
did not walk back again.

Mention having been made of the dusk of the afternoon, it will be
inferred that Mr Brass's task occupied some time in the completion. It
was not finished until evening; but, being done at last, that worthy
person and the three friends adjourned in a hackney-coach to the
private office of a justice, who, giving Mr Brass a warm reception and
detaining him in a secure place that he might insure to himself the
pleasure of seeing him on the morrow, dismissed the others with the
cheering assurance that a warrant could no