her
to go at once to the officers of justice, and, at the very earliest hour
possible, obtain the authority to arrest the brace of arch-conspirators,
still protected by the shadows of the dawn.

For Justice has its time of sleeping and waking in large cities, and
will not be denied its meals, its hours of rest, and even recreation. So
it was seven o'clock in the cold November morning before the proper
ceremonials could be accomplished which placed it in the power of
Wentworth to arraign Basil Bainrothe and Luke Gregory.

He occupied one seat in the hackney-coach, which was otherwise filled by
the officers of the law; but, when he rang a sonorous peal on the portal
bell of Bainrothe's residence, it was unanswered, and, though the house
had been watched since daylight by an armed police force, who had no
connection with McDermot, it was found, when an entrance had been
effected, that the only inhabitants of the mansion were a sick woman, an
old negress, and a child, apparently, from its puny size, about a
twelvemonth old. The woman could not be aroused from the coma in which
she seemed to have fallen, either as a crisis of her disease or a
precursor of death (medical opinion was divided), until suddenly, about
noon, she waked, perfectly clear in mind and comfortable in body, and
called loudly for nourishment!

I had slept profoundly until that hour, and my first thought in waking
was of Mrs. Clayton and her probable condition; then came the
concentrated effort necessary for her release; and she, too, awoke, as I
have shown, to consciousness and physical ease.

Her surprise, her indignation, at being thus deserted, surpassed even
her disappointment at my escape, and her involuntary somnolency was a
theme of self-reproach and marvel both. But all yielded in turn to
terror when she found herself under arrest in her own chamber, in
company with her fellow-conspirator Sabra.

The child was brought to me, at my earnest request, and, during the few
days of my sojourn under Dr. Pemberton's roof, managed to make friends
of all around him. His deformity soon became a matter of interest and
medical examination, and it was decided that it was not beyond the reach
of surgical skill.

The process would be very gradual, Dr. Pemberton thought, of
straightening the spinal curvature; but, should the health of the child
prove good after his tardy and difficult dentition, much might be hoped
from the aid of Nature herself. This was jo