Ii6 By Stream and Sea. 



and the newspapers for a month or so had room for nothing 

 else. Now, the strangeness of the case is, that a good many 

 people say he is innocent, or next door to it." 



" Rubbish ! " interposed the sportsman, " it was a full and 

 fair trial, and nothing could be clearer than the evidence." 



" Well, well," continued the warder, " I can't express an 

 opinion about that ; I only know that all kinds of people of 

 quality have come down to this God-forgotten part of the 

 world to see number Ninety-six, and that Harry Hinton, a 

 brother warder of mine, says he knew the family and all 

 their affairs, and can answer for it that there are things kept 

 secret which would alter the complexion of the case con- 

 siderably." 



" And," said a farmer, who had returned to say that if he 

 was to get home that night he must be jogging pretty soon, 

 or he would be snowed up, " it always happens to be your 

 gentlemen convicts that gets away. I dare say it's all right, 

 but I never yet heard of a poor man doing it. No, no," he 

 added, upon an angry exclamation from Sullivan, " I mean 

 no offence, but it's the truth." 



" Then it is not the truth," retorted the representative of 

 the prison's honour, " the man who last gave us leg-bail was 

 a low tinker tramp, and the one before that was that precious 

 Cheshire farmer, who was no more a gentleman than than 

 he is " he being a pet collie curled up before the wide 

 roaring fire. 



The landlady, appearing at the nick of time, prevented a 

 continuance of the verbal sparring which seemed imminent, 

 and Mr. Sullivan, bidding the company good-night, whis- 

 pered to Mrs. Preston as he went, and received, as if in 

 reply to a question, " She is upset, I fear, and has gone to 

 bed with a head-ache." 



That was certainly a memorable night on Quickmoor, 



