d hand and foot, Fenwolf was thrown upon the back of a horse, and
guarded by two halberdiers, who were prepared to strike him dead on
the slightest movement. In this way he was conveyed to the castle, and
placed in the guard-chamber of the lower gate till further orders should
be issued respecting him.

IX.

Showing how Morgan Fenwolf escaped from the Garter Tower.

Half-an-hour afterwards Fenwolf was visited by the Duke of Suffolk and
a canon of the college; and the guard-chamber being cleared, the duke
enjoined him to make clear his bosom by confession.

"I hold it my duty to tell you, prisoner," said Suffolk, "that there
is no hope of your life. The king's highness is determined to make a
fearful example of you and all your companions in crime; but he does not
seek to destroy your soul, and has therefore sent this holy man to you,
with the desire that you may open your heart to him, and by confession
and repentance save yourself from eternal perdition."

"Confession will profit me nothing," said Fenwolf moodily. "I cannot
pray if I would."

"You cannot be so utterly lost, my son," rejoined the canon. "Hell may
have woven her dark chains round you, but not so firmly but that the
hand of Heaven can burst them."

"You waste time in seeking to persuade me," returned Fenwolf.

"You are not ignorant of the punishment inflicted upon those condemned
for sorcery, my son?" demanded the canon.

"It is the stake, is it not?" replied Fenwolf

"Ay," replied the canon; "but even that fiery trial will fail to purge
out your offences without penitence. My lord of Suffolk, this wretched
man's condition demands special attention. It will profit the Church
much to win his soul from the fiend. Let him, I pray you, be removed to
the dungeon beneath the Garter Tower, where a priest shall visit him,
and pray by his side till daybreak."

"It will be useless, father," said Fenwolf.

"I do not despair, my son," replied the canon; "and when I see you again
in the morning I trust to find you in a better frame of mind."

The duke then gave directions to the guard to remove the prisoner, and
after some further conference with the canon, returned to the royal
apartments.

Meanwhile, the canon shaped his course towards the Horseshoe Cloisters,
a range of buildings so designated from their form, and situated at the
west end of St. George's Chapel, and he had scarcely entered them
when he heard footsteps behind him, and t