Hush, hush ! – Softly sighing to the river

The fact was that Mr Seymour had had the same experience as General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance :

   The man who finds his conscience ache,

     No peace at all enjoys;

   And, as I lay in bed awake,

     I thought I heard a noise.

Whether Mr Seymour's conscience ached or not, cannot, of course, be discovered. But he had certainly thought he heard a noise, and he had come to investigate.

The Gold Bat.  12 News of the Gold Bat