On his way through the village he met Jeremiah looking distressed and lonely. "I want to see a clergyman," he whined peevishly; "I have so many sins to confess. I can find no one to help me." Mallow looked at him. It appeared that Trall, under stress of religious emotion, might confess to a priest, much more than he would be likely to confide to a layman. In such circumstances it was not at all improbable that he might let drop much that would be useful. "I will take you to see a clergyman, Trall--the best in this parish. I am now on my way there. If you will call at the Vicarage shortly--left-hand side of the church from the roadway--I will leave you with him. Then you will be able to unbosom your mind quite freely." "Oh, thank you; thank you, Mr. Mallow. I have many sins to confess--many, many. When shall I come?" Mallow glanced at his watch. "In three-quarters of an hour. Say about four o'clock. I would take you with me now, only I want first to see Mr. Brock myself on private business." Trall was more than satisfied with this arrangement, and hobbled off, profuse in his expressions of gratitude. Mallow continued his way to the Vicarage. "Good-day, Mr. Brock," said he, as the deaf housekeeper showed him into the study (now the sick-room); "I am glad to see you at last." "Indeed, I must apologize for not receiving you before," replied the vicar, wearily, "but I have been busy arranging my papers against my death." "Oh, come now, you are not going to die." "I shall never leave this house alive, Mr. Mallow. My days are numbered. You can guess now that the reading of Carson's statement gave me a severe shock. All these years, I never suspected that it was Bellairs who murdered Singha. Indeed, I did not even know that he was murdered, for Rao Chunder, the heir, gave out that his father had died of apoplexy." "Did you never return to Kikat?" "No; I failed altogether to induce the Governor-General to move in the matter of the blackmailing, and, as the Rao's son was not very friendly to me I judged it wiser to keep away. Besides, I heard that Bellairs and Carson had left Kikat, and believed that their departure was due to the enmity of the new Rao. God forgive me, I never guessed the truth." "Rao Singha never told you that Bellairs and Carson were inculpated in the blackmailing?" "No. Trall made it out to be his own conspiracy, entirely, and kept their names out of his confession. Moreover, Singha had not received the incriminating letters with the forged names. They were afterwards burnt by the new Rao. He kept his own counsel. I never saw them; I never suspected that Bellairs and Carson had fallen so low." "Do you think the names were forged, or do you believe that your friends were willing accomplices in the conspiracy?"