ver her head and stifle her cries, and fly with
her to some place beforehand prepared, where she would be brought to
submission by kindness of manner combined with firmness of purpose.

Coventry possessed every qualification to carry out such a scheme as
this. He was not very courageous; yet he was not a coward: and no great
courage was required. Cunning, forethought, and unscrupulousness were
the principal things, and these he had to perfection.

He provided a place to keep her; it was a shooting-box of his own, on a
heathery hill, that nobody visited except for shooting, and the season
for shooting was past.

He armed himself with false certificates of lunacy, to show on an
emergency, and also a copy of his marriage certificate: he knew how
unwilling strangers are to interfere between man and wife.

The only great difficulty was to get resolute men to help him in this
act.

He sounded Cole; but that worthy objected to it, as being out of his
line.

Coventry talked him over, and offered a sum that made him tremble with
cupidity. He assented on one condition--that he should not be expected
to break into the house, nor do any act that should be "construed
burglarious." He actually used that phrase, which I should hardly have
expected from him.

Coventry assented to this condition. He undertook to get into the house,
and open the door to Cole and his myrmidons: he stipulated, however,
that Cole should make a short iron ladder with four sharp prongs. By
means of this he could enter Grace's house at a certain unguarded
part and then run down and unbar the front door. He had thoroughly
reconnoitered the premises, and was sure of success.

First one day was appointed for the enterprise, then another, and, at
last, it was their luck to settle on a certain night, of which I will
only say at present, that it was a night Hillsborough and its suburbs
will not soon forget.

Midnight was the hour agreed on.

Now at nine o'clock of this very night the chief-constable of
Hillsborough was drinking tea with Little scarcely twenty yards from the
scene of the proposed abduction. Not that either he or Little had the
least notion of the conspiracy. The fact is, Hillsborough had lately
been deluged with false coin, neatly executed, and passed with great
dexterity. The police had received many complaints, but had been unable
to trace it. Lately, however, an old bachelor, living in this suburban
valley, had complained to the polic