"Devil burn me if I don't tie ye hand an' foot together!" cried O'Doodle, impetuously. "What the devil have ye been about wid that black eye o' yours, and--but I'll spake about it in the coach. Off wid ye! Isn't time worth a hundred pounds a minute?"---- Within a minute or two's time O'Doodle had got him safely into the coach, and down to St. Stephen's they rattled at top speed. _There_ was going on, indeed, a desperate fight--a final trial of strength between Ministers and the Opposition, on a vote of want of confidence; and a division expected every minute. Prodigious had been the efforts of both parties--the whip unprecedented. Lord Bulfinch had, early in the evening, explicitly stated that Ministers would resign unless they gained a _majority_: and, to their infinite vexation and astonishment, three of their stanch adherents--Titmouse being one--were missing just at the critical moment. The Opposition had been more fortunate; every man of theirs had come up--and they were shouting tremendously, "Divide! divide! divide!"--while, on the other hand, Ministers were putting up men, one after another, to speak against time, (though not one syllable they said could be heard,) in order to get a chance of their three missing men coming up. If none of them came, Ministers would be exactly even with their opponents; in which case they were very much afraid that they ought to resign. Up the stairs and into the lobby came O'Doodle, breathlessly, with his prize. "Och, my _dear_ O'Doodle!--Titmouse, ye little drunken divil, where have ye been?" commenced Mr. O'Gibbet, on whom O'Doodle stumbled suddenly. "Thank Heaven! Good God, how fortunate!" exclaimed Mr. Flummery, both he and O'Gibbet being in a state of intense anxiety and great excitement. "In with him!--in with him!--by Jove, they're clearing the gallery!" gasped Mr. Flummery, while he rushed into the House, to make the way clear for O'Doodle and O'Gibbet, who were literally carrying in Titmouse between them. "Sir!--Mr. Flummery!" gasped O'Doodle--"ye won't forget what I have done to-night, will ye?" "No, no--honor! In with you! In with you! A moment and all's lost." They reached, however, the House in safety, Mr. O'Gibbet waving his hand in triumph. "Oh, ye droll little divil! where have you been hiding?" he hastily whispered, as he deposited the insensible Titmouse on the nearest bench, and sat beside him. Mr. O'Gibbet took off his hat, and wiped his reeking head and face. Merciful powers! what a triumph!--and in the very nick of time.--Titmouse had saved the Ministry! Tremendous was now the uproar in the House, almost every one present shouting, "Divide!--divide!" "Strangers, withdraw," cried the Speaker. Then, _at it_ they went, with an air of tumultuous and irrepressible excitement; but, through Titmouse, the Ministers triumphed. The numbers were announced--