agony at me, and I knew he meant, "Don't reveal what you see; my life
depends on it." I was so terror-struck that I could hardly stand, and,
not knowing what I did, I turned and hurried away.'

The narrator's manner and tone had the stamp of truth, and his story made
a great impression on all around. 'And do you know where your brother is
at the present time?' asked the magistrate.

'I do not. I have never seen him since I closed this door.'

'I can testify to that, for we've been between ye ever since,' said the
constable.

'Where does he think to fly to?--what is his occupation?'

'He's a watch-and-clock-maker, sir.'

''A said 'a was a wheelwright--a wicked rogue,' said the constable.

'The wheels of clocks and watches he meant, no doubt,' said Shepherd
Fennel. 'I thought his hands were palish for's trade.'

'Well, it appears to me that nothing can be gained by retaining this poor
man in custody,' said the magistrate; 'your business lies with the other,
unquestionably.'

And so the little man was released off-hand; but he looked nothing the
less sad on that account, it being beyond the power of magistrate or
constable to raze out the written troubles in his brain, for they
concerned another whom he regarded with more solicitude than himself.