Here I should greatly enjoy saying a few cheering words on the devout confidence which could alone have sustained Mr. Godfrey in an emergency so terrible as this.  Perhaps, however, the position and appearance of my admirable friend at the culminating period of the outrage (as above described) are hardly within the proper limits of female discussion.  Let me pass over the next few moments, and return to Mr. Godfrey at the time when the odious search of his person had been completed.  The outrage had been perpetrated throughout in dead silence.  At the end of it some words were exchanged, among the invisible wretches, in a language which he did not understand, but in tones which were plainly expressive (to his cultivated ear) of disappointment and rage.  He was suddenly lifted from the ground, placed in a chair, and bound there hand and foot.  The next moment he felt the air flowing in from the open door, listened, and concluded that he was alone again in the room.

An interval elapsed, and he heard a sound below like the rustling sound of a woman’s dress.  It advanced up the stairs, and stopped.  A female scream rent the atmosphere of guilt.  A man’s voice below exclaimed “Hullo!” A man’s feet ascended the stairs.  Mr. Godfrey felt Christian fingers unfastening his bandage, and extracting his gag.  He looked in amazement at two respectable strangers, and faintly articulated, “What does it mean?” The two respectable strangers looked back, and said, “Exactly the question we were going to ask you.”

The inevitable explanation followed.  No!  Let me be scrupulously particular.  Sal volatile and water followed, to compose dear Mr. Godfrey’s nerves.  The explanation came next.

It appeared from the statement of the landlord and landlady of the house (persons of good repute in the neighbourhood), that their first and second floor apartments had been engaged, on the previous day, for a week certain, by a most respectable-looking gentleman—­the same who has been already described as answering the door to Mr. Godfrey’s knock.  The gentleman had paid the week’s rent and all the week’s extras in advance, stating that the apartments were wanted for three Oriental noblemen, friends of his, who were visiting England for the first time.  Early on the morning of the outrage, two of the Oriental strangers, accompanied by their respectable English friend, took possession of the apartments.  The third was expected to join them shortly; and the luggage (reported as very bulky) was announced to follow when it had passed through the Custom-house, late in the afternoon.  Not more than ten minutes previous to Mr. Godfrey’s visit, the third foreigner had arrived.  Nothing out of the common had happened, to the knowledge of the landlord and landlady down-stairs, until within the last five minutes—­when they had seen the three foreigners, accompanied by their respectable English friend, all leave the house together, walking quietly in the direction of the