He ordered a fire in his little back parlor; and with a sigh sat down to rewrite his memorial and to try and recover, if he could, the exact words, and save the next post that left in the morning.

As Mr. Eden sat trying to recover the words of his memorial, Hawes was seated in Mr. Williams’ study at Ashtown Park, concerting with that worthy magistrate the best way of turning the new chaplain out of ——­ Jail.  He found no difficulty.  Mr. Williams had two very strong prejudices, one in favor of Hawes personally, the other in favor of the system pursued this two years in that jail.  Egotism was here, too, and rendered these prejudices almost impregnable.  Williams had turned out O’Connor and his milder system, and put in Hawes and his more rigorous one.  Hawes was “my man—­his system mine.”

He told his story, and Williams burned to avenge his injured friend, whose patron and director he called himself, and whose tool he was.

“Nothing can be done until the twenty-fifth, when Palmer returns.  We must be all there for an act of this importance.  Do your duty as you always have, carry out the discipline, and send for me if he gives you any great annoyance in the meantime.”

That zealous servant of her majesty, earnest Mr. Hawes, had never taken a day’s holiday before.  No man could accuse him of indolence, carelessness, or faint discharge of the task he had appointed himself.  He perverted his duties too much to neglect them.  He had been reluctant to leave the prison on a personal affair.  The drive, however, was pleasant, and he returned freshened and animated by assurances of support from the magistrate.

As he strode across the prison yard to inspect everything before going to his house, he felt invulnerable and sneered at himself for the momentary uneasiness he had let a crack-brained parson give him.  He went home; there was a nice fire, a clean-swept hearth, a glittering brass kettle on the hob for making toddy, and three different kinds of spirits in huge cruets.  For system reigned in the house as well as the jail, with this difference, that the house system was devoted to making self comfortable the jail system to making others wretched.

He rang the bell.  In came the servant with slippers and candles unlighted, for he was wont to sip his grog by fire-light.  He put on his slippers.  Then he mixed his grog.  Then he noticed a paper on the table, and putting it to the fire he found it was sealed.  So he lighted the candles and placed them a little behind him.  Then he stirred his grog and sipped it, and placing it close beside him, leaned back with a grunt of satisfaction, opened the paper, read it first slowly, then all in a flutter, started up as if he was going to act upon some impulse; but the next moment sat down again and stared wildly a picture of stupid consternation.

Meantime, as Mr. Eden with a heavy heart was writing himself out—­nauseous task—­Susan stood before him with a color like a rose.  She was in a brown cloak, from under which she took out a basket brimful of little packages, some in blue, some in white paper.