I could see his lordship reclining, stroking back his scrap of hair, and enjoying the "real toil" of another!

"Who, then, was that brilliant preacher?" I asked.

"He was called the Pater Dees, sir."

"And what has become of him now?"

"I could not tell you."

"But can it be the same Pater Max Dees of whom I have heard that he has been a prisoner in the castle?"

"The very same."

"May I ask—what was his offence?"

"The sin of ingratitude."

"Indeed? What is the story?"