d had made his presence notable throughout
the county. He had succeeded in convincing uncle Babington, and had been
judged to be a false witness by all the Boltons. In that there had
perhaps been no great indiscretion. But when Bagwax opened a
correspondence with Mrs. John Caldigate and explained to her at great
length all the circumstances of the postmark and the postage-stamps, and
when at her instance he got a day's holiday and rushed down to Folking,
then, as he felt himself, he was doing that of which Sir John Joram and
Mr. Jones would not approve. But he could not restrain himself. And why
should he restrain himself when he had lost all hope of his journey to
Sydney? When the prospect of that delight no longer illumined his days,
why should he not enjoy the other delight of communicating his tidings,
--his own discoveries,--to the afflicted lady? Unless he did so it would
appear to her that Joram had done it all, and there would be no
reward,--absolutely none! So he told his tale,--at first by letter and
then with his own natural eloquence. 'Yes, Mrs. Caldigate the postmarks
are difficult. It takes a lifetime of study to understand all the ins
and outs of postmarks. To me it is A B C of course. When I had spent a
week or two looking into it I was sure that impression had never been
made in the way of business Bagwax was sitting out on the lawn at
Folking and the bereaved wife, dressed in black, was near him, holding
in her hand one of the photographed copies of the envelope. 'It's A B C
to me; but I don't wonder you shouldn't see it.'

'I think I do see a good deal,' said Hester.

'But any babe may understand that,' said Bagwax, pressing forward and
putting his forefinger on the obliteration of the postage-stamp. 'You
see the date in the postmark.'

'I know the date very well.'

'We've had it proved that on the date given there, this identical
postage-stamp had not yet been manufactured. The Secretary of State can't
get over that. I'll defy him.'

'Why don't they release him at once then?

'Between you and me, Mrs. Caldigate, I think it's Judge Bramber.'

'He can't want to injure an innocent man.'

'From what I've heard Sir John say, I fancy he doesn't like to have the
verdict upset. But they must do it. I'll defy them to get over that.'
And again he tapped the queen's-head. Then he told the story of his love
for Jemima, and of his engagement. Of course he was praised and
petted,--as indeed he deserved; a