"Yes, sir, but I was in a passion. A man does not like to be defied when doing his duty. I should have reported my own brother, or the Prince of Wales, I hope, if he had done what Mr. Savell did. All I wish is that I had written in a better and kinder spirit, instead of making the worst of things. That same evening, Mr. Savell came and apologized in the frankest way, and brought the letter to show me. He has no idea, I believe, of what he has laid himself open to, but he was sorry for having insulted me when I was doing my duty. Besides, he owned he had set a bad example, when his very position should have made him anxious to set a good one. Must you take any proceedings, sir?" asked Frith, after a brief pause, during which Mr. Fisher was evidently thinking things over. "I must indeed, Frith. The mail-bags are trusted to the honour of the people, as it were, tied only with a string and secured by a seal which a child's hand could loose and break. They are flung down on the platforms as if they were of little importance, yet think what sacred deposits they enclose. Everybody is interested in their safety, and the law, while trusting so much, imposes a heavy penalty on any violation of the trust. An instance of the kind is rare indeed. Now, if we were to gloss over this offence of Mr. Savell, what would the world say?" "I suppose they would say that a rich man was allowed to do what a poor man was not; that a labourer who meddled with the mails would be marched straight to gaol, whilst the squire went scot free," replied Frith, ruefully. "But, oh dear! What will become of Miss Pemberton and Miss Savell? It will break their hearts!" And the young man groaned audibly. A brief question or two, and Frith became loquacious enough, and Mr. Fisher heard all about the intended marriages, the charms of the brides-elect, and the learning of Stephen Hastings, who was to fill some high position abroad, he had been told. The young man used all his eloquence, but his story came to an end at length; and in spite of it, Mr. Fisher found himself compelled to apply for a summons against Norman Savell, to appear and answer before the magistrates for the offence he had committed. The application caused no small commotion in the mind of the gentleman who received it. There was no magistrate within a wide radius who was not personally acquainted with my brother, and the lawyer to whom Mr. Fisher wished to entrust the conduct of the case flatly refused it. He was Norman's own agent and legal adviser. The magistrate could not refuse to grant a summons, but owned that he did it with extreme reluctance.