’I shall begin to believe that the Evil One has been allowed to come among us in person because of our sins,’ she said to Martha and she meant it.

In the meantime, Mrs Trevelyan, as may be remembered, had hired Mrs Crocket’s open carriage, and the three young women, Mrs Trevelyan, Nora, and Priscilla, made a little excursion to Princetown, somewhat after the fashion of a picnic.  At Princetown, in the middle of Dartmoor, about nine miles from Nuncombe Putney, is the prison establishment at which are kept convicts undergoing penal servitude.  It is regarded by all the country round with great interest, chiefly because the prisoners now and again escape, and then there comes a period of interesting excitement until the escaped felon shall have been again taken.  How can you tell where he may be, or whether it may not suit him to find his rest in your own cupboard, or under your own bed?  And then, as escape without notice will of course be the felon’s object, to attain that he will probably cut your throat, and the throat of everybody belonging to you.  All which considerations give an interest to Princetown, and excite in the hearts of the Devonians of these parts a strong affection for the Dartmoor prison.  Of those who visit Princetown comparatively few effect an entrance within the walls of the gaol.  They look at the gloomy place with a mysterious interest, feeling something akin to envy for the prisoners who have enjoyed the privilege of solving the mysteries of prison life, and who know how men feel when they have their hair cut short, and are free from moral responsibility for their own conduct, and are moved about in gangs, and treated like wild beasts.

But the journey to Princetown, from whatever side it is approached, has the charm of wild and beautiful scenery.  The spot itself is ugly enough; but you can go not thither without breathing the sweetest, freshest air, and encountering that delightful sense of romance which moorland scenery always produces.  The idea of our three friends was to see the Moor rather than the prison, to learn something of the country around, and to enjoy the excitement of eating a sandwich sitting on a hillock, in exchange for the ordinary comforts of a good dinner with chairs and tables.  A bottle of sherry and water and a paper of sandwiches contained their whole banquet; for ladies, though they like good things at picnics, and, indeed, at other times, almost as well as men like them, very seldom prepare dainties for themselves alone.  Men are wiser and more thoughtful, and are careful to have the good things, even if they are to be enjoyed without companionship.