I never looked at
thee, Morton, and entered the room. Lo, the priest was not there:
I searched both chambers in vain; so I made thy brother lift up the
trapdoor, and kindle a lamp, and I searched the room below, and the
passage. The priest was invisible. Thou knowest, Morton, that there
is only one egress in the passage, and that was locked, as I have said
before, so where the devil--the devil indeed--could thy tutor have
escaped? He could not have passed me on the stairs without my seeing
him; he could not have leaped the window without breaking his neck; he
could not have got out of the passage without making himself a current
of air. Ods fish, Morton, this thing might puzzle a wiser man, than
thine uncle. Gerald affected to be mighty indignant at my suspicions;
but, God forgive him, I saw he was playing a part. A man does not write
plays, my child, without being keen-sighted in these little intrigues;
and, moreover, it is impossible I could have mistaken thy tutor's voice,
which, to do it justice, is musical enough, and is the most singular
voice I ever heard,--unless little Sid's be excepted.

_A propos_ of little Sid. I remember that in the Mall, when I was
walking there alone, three weeks after my marriage, De Grammont and Sid
joined me. I was in a melancholic mood ('sdeath, Morton, marriage tames
a man as water tames mice!)--"Aha, Sir William," cried Sedley, "thou
hast a cloud on thee; prithee now brighten it away: see, thy wife shines
on thee from the other end of the Mall." "Ah, talk not to a dying man of
his physic!" said Grammont (that Grammont was a shocking rogue, Morton!)
"Prithee, Sir William, what is the chief characteristic of wedlock? is
it a state of war or of peace?" "Oh, peace to be sure!" cried Sedley,
"and Sir William and his lady carry with them the emblem." "How!" cried
I; for I do assure thee, Morton, I was of a different turn of mind.
"How!" said Sid, gravely, "why, the emblem of peace is the _cornucopia_,
which your lady and you equitably divide: she carries the _copia_, and
you the _cor_--." Nay, Morton, nay, I cannot finish the jest; for, after
all, it was a sorry thing in little Sid, whom I had befriended like a
brother, with heart and purse, to wound me so cuttingly; but 'tis the
way with your jesters.

Ods fish, now how I have got out of my story! Well, I did not go back to
my room, Morton, till I had looked to the outside of the iron door, and
seen that the plate was as firm as ever: s