s restless bird kept
appearing first at one cell door with a conundrum, then at the other
with a joke, or insisted on telling funny stories in her den, till the
exhausted victims implored her to take an opium pill and subside before
they became furious. She obeyed, and after a few relapses into wandering
and joking, finally slumbered.

Then occurred the one thrilling adventure of this happy journey. In the
darkest hour before dawn Mat awoke, heard a suspicious noise in the
middle room, and asked if Lavinia was on the rampage again. No reply,
and, listening, a low, rasping, rustling sound was heard.

'Thieves, of course. Our watches and purses are on the table, and
Lavinia has probably forgotten to lock the door. I must attend to this.'
And up rose the dauntless Matilda, who feared neither man nor ghost.

Grasping her dagger, hitherto used as a paper cutter, but always eager
to be steeped in the gore of brigands, robbers, or beasts of prey, she
crept to the door and peeped in. The pale glow of the fire showed her a
dark figure crouching in the opposite door-way. The click of a pistol
caught her ear, but dodging quickly, the heroic girl cried sternly from
the shelter of Lavinia's bed-curtain,--

'Come out, or I'll fire!'

'Mio Dio! is it only you?' answered a familiar voice, as Amanda,
shrouded in a waterproof, sprang up and lit a match.

'What are you prowling about for?' demanded Mat.

'To blow your brains out, apparently,' answered Mandy, lowering her
arms. 'Why are you abroad?'

'To stab you, I fancy,' and Mat sheathed her dagger balked of its prey.

'I heard a noise.'

'So did I.'

'Let's see what it is,' and lighting a candle, the fair Amazons looked
boldly about the shadowy room.

Lavinia lay wrapt in slumber, with only the end of her sarcastic nose
visible beyond the misty cloud that enveloped her venerable countenance.
The outer door was fast, and the shutters closed. No booted feet
appeared below the curtains, no living eyes rolled awfully in the
portrait of the salmon-coloured saint upon the wall. Yet the rustling
and rasping went on, and with one impulse the defenders of sleeping
innocence made for the table in the corner.

There was the midnight robber at his fell work!--the big cat peacefully
gnawing the cold chicken, and knocking about the treasured crusts
dragged from the luncheon-basket carefully packed for an early start.

'Wake and behold the ruin your pet has made!'

'We might be mur