t the stone mantel.

"By ----," he said, with a fearful oath, "he has escaped me, after all."

It was so. The mind, worn and strained by the terrors of the long
pursuit, perhaps by remorse not acknowledged even to himself; and by the
last great effort at self-control, had given way at last--forever. God
had recorded his verdict, and no earthly court could try the criminal
again. Bruce is living now (and I dare say will outlive most of us, for
his bodily health is perfect), vicious sometimes, but never conscious;
hard to please, but easy to manage, so long as his attendant is a man,
and a strong one; accessible only to the one emotion which drove him
mad--physical fear.

Livingstone called the officers; they came in with Macbane. The old man
pretended to be very wroth when he saw his master's state, but I believe
he rejoiced secretly. The credit of the family, with him, outweighed all
considerations of personal attachment, and he would think public
disgrace cheaply averted at any price.

On our poor detective, perhaps, the blow fell heaviest; for, after some
time, Guy did come round to my idea, that no punishment we could have
brought about would have been so ample and terrible; but Mr. Fitchett
could not see it in that light at all. Not only was the termination of
the affair dreadfully unprofessional, but the little triumph he had
anticipated at the trial was spoiled. If human weakness ever could touch
this great man, it was when he heard the judge pay a compliment to "the
sagacity and zeal of that most efficient officer." On such occasions,
his bow of conscious merit abnegating praise was, I am told, wonderful
to see. After a few words of explanation, he glanced wistfully at Bruce,
and shook his head, like a broken-hearted Lord Burleigh. Then he
unloosed the handcuffs from Macbane's wrists, whistling all the while
softly a popular air, lively in itself, with a cadence so plaintive that
it might have been a penitential psalm. No romantic school-girl opening
the cage to her pet starling ever displayed more hesitation and
reluctance than Mr. Fitchett setting that grim old bird free.

In truth, there was no evidence to attach to the servant, so we left him
and his master together. I could not have stood that room much longer.
The ceaseless complacent chuckle of the idiot, and his fearful grimaces
when he could not make the threads match, had the effect on my chest of
a nightmare. Very slowly and silently we walked home