Chapter V

THE Savell Arms, as the one inn at Overford was named, stood near the station and within sight of the Court, and furnished fitting accommodation for those who could be contented with exquisite cleanliness and simple country dainties, served by a village maiden instead of a town-bred waiter.

Two days after the unfortunate affair with the mail-bag, a stranger arrived at Overford, and sought accommodation at The Arms, guided thither by the station-master, who doubted whether the little inn would furnish a fitting shelter for so great a personage as one of Her Majesty's Post Office inspectors. But the new-comer was charmed with its appearance, so different from the huge wilderness in which he was often obliged to sojourn, and said the quiet would be delicious.

He had come down, first and foremost, about this mail-bag business, but he had other places to inspect, and would make Overford the centre, as trains were fairly convenient for visiting them.

After due rest and refreshment, the inspector held conference with Frith.

"This is an unpleasant affair," he said, "but you have acted most creditably, especially considering the position of the offender. Your King's Court squire seems to regard himself as above all law, but he will have to learn a new lesson."

Frith looked as miserable as though the compliment just paid him had been a threat of dismissal, and replied, "The matter looks worse on paper than it was. Mr. Savell would not have taken such liberties but for Mr. Joynson, who was here before me."

And Frith, with the permission of his superior, told the whole story, softening matters as far as possible, and making excuses for Norman.

Mr. Fisher, the inspector, listened attentively, but, instead of making an immediate reply, he read over Frith's written statement. For a moment, the thought came into his mind that Frith had been bribed during the interval, to make the case seem better than it was, in order to save the offender. He looked keenly into Frith's face, in which he noted an expression of truthfulness and honesty, which contradicted the suspicion; but he remarked, "I find a great difference between the tone of your report and your verbal account."

The young man's face flushed, but he met the keen glance with honest eyes and words—

"I was angry when I wrote, and I am afraid I was thinking more about Mr. Savell having set me at defiance than of his offence against the law. I am not angry now, and though I can only tell the truth, I can do so without passion, and would gladly undo the effect of my first harsh words."

"What has caused this change of feeling?"

"After I had sent off the letter, I began to think of Mr. Savell's many excellences. He is a capital landlord, a true friend to the poor, a kind brother, and he ought to be married in a month to one of the sweetest girls in the world. He has been naturally accustomed to think a great deal of himself, as the largest landowner of the neighbourhood, and old Joynson had let him do as he liked with the mail-bags, and never said him nay. There are many things to be said in excuse for Mr. Savell."

"Were not all these things equally true when you wrote your report of the affair?"

"Yes, sir, but I was in a passion. A man does not like to be defied when doing his duty. I should have reported my own brother, or the Prince of Wales, I hope, if he had done what Mr. Savell did. All I wish is that I had written in a better and kinder spirit, instead of making the worst of things. That same evening, Mr. Savell came and apologized in the frankest way, and brought the letter to show me. He has no idea, I believe, of what he has laid himself open to, but he was sorry for having insulted me when I was doing my duty. Besides, he owned he had set a bad example, when his very position should have made him anxious to set a good one. Must you take any proceedings, sir?" asked Frith, after a brief pause, during which Mr. Fisher was evidently thinking things over.

"I must indeed, Frith. The mail-bags are trusted to the honour of the people, as it were, tied only with a string and secured by a seal which a child's hand could loose and break. They are flung down on the platforms as if they were of little importance, yet think what sacred deposits they enclose. Everybody is interested in their safety, and the law, while trusting so much, imposes a heavy penalty on any violation of the trust. An instance of the kind is rare indeed. Now, if we were to gloss over this offence of Mr. Savell, what would the world say?"

"I suppose they would say that a rich man was allowed to do what a poor man was not; that a labourer who meddled with the mails would be marched straight to gaol, whilst the squire went scot free," replied Frith, ruefully. "But, oh dear! What will become of Miss Pemberton and Miss Savell? It will break their hearts!" And the young man groaned audibly.

A brief question or two, and Frith became loquacious enough, and Mr. Fisher heard all about the intended marriages, the charms of the brides-elect, and the learning of Stephen Hastings, who was to fill some high position abroad, he had been told.

The young man used all his eloquence, but his story came to an end at length; and in spite of it, Mr. Fisher found himself compelled to apply for a summons against Norman Savell, to appear and answer before the magistrates for the offence he had committed.

The application caused no small commotion in the mind of the gentleman who received it. There was no magistrate within a wide radius who was not personally acquainted with my brother, and the lawyer to whom Mr. Fisher wished to entrust the conduct of the case flatly refused it. He was Norman's own agent and legal adviser.

The magistrate could not refuse to grant a summons, but owned that he did it with extreme reluctance.

"Let me see," he said, "this is Saturday. We meet on Monday, and I dare pledge myself for Mr. Savell's presence to answer any charge against him. And, Mr. Fisher, you are alone in this neighbourhood. Will you, by way of passing the time, dine with me to-morrow? My carriage shall fetch you from the inn, in time for church, and take you back in the evening, unless you would prefer taking a bed here to be ready for Monday morning."

Mr. Fisher thanked the speaker, but declined the invitation.

"No doubt you are right, but," here the worthy magistrate lowered his voice, "you must let me say a word for my friend Savell. A worthy young man. Impetuous, if you like, but incapable of anything dishonourable. I am as sure as though I had seen it, that the letter he took was his own."

"I have no doubt of it," was the reply. "I can feel no prejudice against Mr. Savell, of whom I hear so much that is excellent; but I have an official duty to perform, though I do it with regret."

"Of course. You can have no wish to be hard, and no doubt you will do what you can, consistently with duty, to soften matters. We magistrates can only administer the laws, we cannot alter them but there are such things as recommendations on behalf of an unwitting offender. Sometimes, a case need not be pressed. The justice of the law can be tempered with mercy, and you, Mr. Fisher, can recommend leniency in dealing with this case. Good day, and I shall hope to meet you under more agreeable circumstances."

Mr. Fisher felt his hand grasped by the speaker, who subsequently congratulated himself that he had put in an effectual plea for Norman. Indeed: he told me afterwards of his efforts on my brother's behalf, and assured me that he had been enabled to render him a signal service without in the least compromising his own dignity or that of the bench.