full of silk and spirits under the very noses of the
coast-guard, these were the meanest matters to
which Lord Lob's genius would willingly descend.

He had no need of much money. He had
wearied of smaller vices. Such poor excesses as
drink and play he had abandoned to the young
aristocratic bloods of the day; but when he had
absolutely not a groat remaining, my lord would
quietly saddle his brown pad, and sallying forth
on his favourite preserve, the Lincoln road, take
the first purse he judged weighty enough for
present necessities. To do this at his pleasure,
was the leader's sole prerogative; all other
proceedings of the gang being carried on in concert,
and with a common end.

These gentlemen, who had given themselves
the name of the "Black-Thumbs," numbered
about thirty, seldom more, as it was thought
that any larger circle might include a traitor or
two; seldom less, for no sooner did the insatiate
maw of justice devour a member of the brotherhood,
than another stepped eagerly into the shoes
kicked off at the gibbet. Such casualties, however,
were far from numerous, even in those
regretted " good old days," when nothing in the
range of endeavour was easier than to get
hanged; for every well-trained Black-Thumb
was adroit as he was daring, and there was,
moreover, a law—which being the only one
recognised by these worthies, was observed with
the more fidelity— that no member of their little
commonwealth should imperil his valuable
existence in petty individual ventures, so long as
any greater action was impending.

To their leader, one and all were heartily
devoted, executing his orders whatsoever they
might be with that blind and absolute confidence
which goes far towards ensuring the
result it anticipates.

Hence, then, it befel, that whenever any
startling outrage, marked with peculiar features,
was added to the daily catalogue of crime,
suspicion, as a thing of course, fastened upon
the dreaded Black-Thumbs, and hence the
worthy magistrate believed he saw the impression
of these sooty digits in the deed he was
investigating.

As yet, he felt, the conclusion was premature,
and suggested by the mysterious and motiveless
character of the outrage.

What, in the first place, was its real nature?

It must have been one of three things: A
planned assassination. An interrupted burglary,
with violence supervening. A simple abduction,
or kidnapping.

That it was a purposed assassination seemed
the least probable of all. The generous frank
old man had not an enemy on earth. It was
beyond the pale of likelihood that such a deed
should have been attempted under such circumstances,
by day, in the victim's own dwelling,
when the slightest scuffle must provoke alarm.
And then, what murderer would multiply the
chances of detection tenfold, by seeking to remove
the mutilated body?

The theory of an interrupted robbery was
surely negatived by the fact that those who
carried off the body might with infinitely greater
facility have possessed themselves of the money
and valuables they came to seek. Such things,
it has been stated, were lying about where they
could not escape notice, and, in the very drawer
that had been heard to open and reclose, there
was found, on examination, a bank-bill of large
amount, and twenty-three guineas and a half in
gold.

As touching the abductional hypothesis, had
the object been the charming little heiress, Polly-
my-Lamb, the enterprise, though lawless, were
at least intelligible, but what advantage commensurate
with the hazard could accrue to the
assailants from the possession of the portly
person of her excellent father?

After an interview with Mrs. Humpage—a
kind but weak-minded woman, whom alarm and
anxiety had rendered nearly imbecile—and with
Polly-my-Lamb, who looked as white as a lily,
but neither wept nor lamented, the magistrate
returned to his office in a mood of unaccustomed
depression. He endeavoured to recal from some
important country service an officer named Henry
Armour, distinguished no less for his bull-dog
courage, than the sagacity with which he tracked
the coldest scent. Mr. Armour, however, was
beyond recal. The game he had been hunting
had, for once, given him the slip, at Liverpool,
and made for North America. Without a moment's
hesitation, the staunch pursuer had flung
a brace of pistols into his valise, and had started
in chase by a ship then in the act of clearing
out. So, for some months, Henry was not
available.

The affairs of the missing gentleman were
found to be in perfect order and high prosperity.
For the last two or three years, as most of his
friends were aware, he had been gradually restricting
the sphere of his commercial operations,
with the intention of withdrawing altogether
from business as soon as practicable. This
circumstance greatly facilitated the scrutiny that
took place. The result of it went to show that
Mr. Humpage had been in a position to retire
with a fortune of upwards of ninety thousand
pounds.

By the time this conclusion was established,
poor Mrs. Humpage was no longer in a condition
to take much interest in the matter.
Many months had now passed since her husband's
disappearance, and yet her health, whether bodily
or mental, showed no symptom of recovering from
the shock it had sustained. On the contrary, as
hope faded, her feebleness of frame and disturbance
of spirit augmented together. She was
rapidly sinking into imbecility, and presently
conceived an idea that her husband was not only
alive, but in his own house, observing, however,
some peculiar line of conduct which she could
not comprehend. She was perpetually hearing
his voice or step. Sometimes caught sight of
him as he passed from room to room, and on one