"There will be no harm, I suppose, in taking the other fellow on suspicion, if I find them still together?" said the constable; adding, "I rather think I know something of that t'other chap already." He received authority to do this, and then departed, leaving Mrs. Barnaby, her faithful squire, Mr. Peters, and the lawyer, seated on three stools in a dismal sort of apartment within the office, the lady, at least, being in a state of very nervous expectation. This position was not a pleasant one; but fortunately it did not last long, for in considerably less than an hour they were requested to return into the office, the three prisoners being arrived. Mr. Peters gave the lady his arm, and they entered by a door exactly facing the spot on which stood the three persons just brought in, with the constable and two attendant officers behind them. The group, as expected, consisted of two men and a girl, which latter was indeed the tall and slender Betty Jacks, and no other; the man at her left hand was William, the Major's civil groom; and he at her right was ... no, it was impossible, ... yet she could not mistake ... it must be, and, in fact, it was that pattern of faithful friendship, Captain Maintry! Mrs. Barnaby's agitation was now, beyond all suspicion of affectation, very considerable, and his worship obligingly ordered a glass of water and a chair, which having been procured and profited by, he asked her if she knew the prisoners. "Yes!..." she answered with a long-drawn sigh. "Can you point them out by name?" "The girl is my maid Jer ... Betty Jacks ... that man is William, Major Allen's groom ... and that other...." "You had better stop there," interrupted the self-styled captain, "or you may chance to say more than you know." "You had better be silent, I promise you," said the magistrate. "Pray, ma'am, do you know that person?... Did you ever see him before?" "Yes, I have seen him before," replied Mrs. Barnaby, who was pale in spite of her rouge; for the recollection of all the affectionate intimacy she had witnessed between this man and her affianced Major turned her very sick, and it was quite as much as she could do to articulate. "I should be sorry, ma'am, to trouble you with any unnecessary questions," said the magistrate; "but I must beg you to tell me, if you please, where it is you have seen him, and what he is called?" "I saw him in the Mall at Clifton, sir," ... replied Mrs. Barnaby. "And many an honest man besides me may have been seen in the Mall at Clifton," said the _soi-disant_ Captain Maintry laughing. "And you have never seen him anywhere else, ma'am?" "No, sir, never." "Pray, was he then in company with that groom?" "No," ... replied the widow faltering. Maintry laughed again. "You cannot then swear that you suspect him of having robbed you?" "No, sir." Here the constable whispered something in the ear of the magistrate, who nodded, and then resumed his examination.