"And now I say to you, send immadient, mam, or the Lord help—"
The blind woman's excitement and Mona's impassibility were broken in upon by the sound of a man's voice in the hall asking sharply for the Deemster. At the next moment Quayle, the coroner, was in the room. His face was flushed, his breath came quick, and his manner betrayed extreme agitation.
"When the Deemster comes home from Kirk Andreas tell him to go across to Bishop's Court at once, and say that I will be back before midnight."
So saying, the coroner wheeled about without ceremony, and was leaving the room.
"What has happened at Bishop's Court?" Mona asked.
"Nothing," he said, impatiently.
"Then why should I tell him to go there?"
The tone of the question awakened the curmudgeon's sense of common policy.
"Well, if you must know, that man has escaped, and I'm thinking the Bishop himself has had his foot in the mischief."
Then Kerry, with a confused desire to defend the Bishop, interrupted, and said, "The Bishop's not at the Coort—let me tell ye that."