'After the bloody deed was done,' said the penitent, 'we retreated
into a cave close beside, the secret of which was known but to one
man in the country; we were debating what to do with the child,
and we thought of giving it up to the gipsies, when we heard the
cries of the pursuers hallooing to each other. One man alone came
straight to our cave, and it was that man who knew the secret; but
we made him our friend at the expense of half the value of the
goods saved. By his advice we carried off the child to Holland in
our consort, which came the following night to take us from the
coast. That man was--'

'No, I deny it! it was not I!' said Glossin, in half-uttered
accents; and, struggling in his agony to express his denial more
distinctly, he awoke.

It was, however, conscience that had prepared this mental
phantasmagoria. The truth was that, knowing much better than any
other person the haunts of the smugglers, he had, while the others
were searching in different directions, gone straight to the cave,
even before he had learned the murder of Kennedy, whom he expected
to find their prisoner. He came upon them with some idea of
mediation, but found them in the midst of their guilty terrors,
while the rage which had hurried them on to murder began, with all
but Hatteraick, to sink into remorse and fear. Glossin was then
indigent and greatly in debt, but he was already possessed of Mr.
Bertram's ear, and, aware of the facility of his disposition, he
saw no difficulty in enriching himself at his expense, provided
the heir-male were removed, in which case the estate became the
unlimited property of the weak and prodigal father. Stimulated by
present gain and the prospect of contingent advantage, he accepted