“I take it, if all be as his Excellency says, that this is not the first case in which an innocent man has been sent to jail. Such things occur now and then in the model England, and I have never heard that they formed matter to impeach a Ministry.” “You heard of this committal, then?” “No, not till now.” “Not till now?” “Not till now. His Excellency, and indeed yourself, Mr. Balfour, seem to fall into the delusion that a Solicitor-General is a detective officer. Now, he is not,--nor any more is he a police magistrate. This arrest, I suppose,--I know nothing about it, but I suppose,--was made on certain sworn information. The law took its ordinary course; and the man who would neither tell his name nor give the clew to any one who would answer for him went to prison. It is unfortunate, certainly; but they who made this statute forgot to insert a clause that none of the enumerated penalties should apply to any one who knew or had acquaintance with the Viceroy for the time being.” “Yes, as you remark, that was a stupid omission; and now, what 's to be done here?” “I opine his Excellency gives you ample instructions. You are to repair to the jail, make your apologies to F.--whoever F. may be,--induce him to let himself be bailed, and persuade him to go over and pass a fortnight at Crew Keep. Pray tell him, however, before he goes, that his being in prison was not in any way owing to the Solicitor-Genera's being a fine gentleman.” “I 'll send for the informations,” said Balfour, and rang his bell. “Mr. Heffernan, sir, by appointment,” said the private secretary, entering with a card in his hand. “Oh, I had forgotten. It completely escaped me,” said Balfour, with a pretended confusion. “Will you once more take a turn in the garden, Pem?--five minutes will do all I want.” “If my retirement is to facilitate Mr. Heffernan's advance, it would be ungracious to defer it; but give me till to-morrow to think of it.” “I only spoke of going into the garden, my dear Pem.” “I will do more,--I will take my leave. Indeed, I have important business in the Rolls Court.” “I shall want to see you about this business,” said the other, touching the despatch. “I'll look in on you about five-at the office, and by that time you'll have seen Mr. F.” “Mr. Heffernan could not wait, sir,--he has to open a Record case in the Queen's Bench,” said the Secretary, entering, “but he says he will write to you this evening.” The Solicitor-General grinned. He fancied that the whole incident had been a most unfortunate _malapropos_, and that Balfour was sinking under shame and confusion. “How I wish Baron Lendrick could be induced to retire!” said Balfour; “it would save us a world of trouble.” “The matter has little interest for me personally.” “Little interest for _you?_--how so?” “I mean what I say; but I mean also not to be questioned upon the matter,” said he, proudly. “If, however, you are so very eager about it, there is a way I believe it might be done.”