The Sunday herald., 1886-10-10

should have To improvisea kilt or plaid out
n your best petticoat and shawl. Bat con-
ound IL all there must be some better way
,ut OF the scrape than that. Carew will
lend out TO look for me, Of course, and some
body Is bound TO turn up here before very
ong; shau't have many hours to wait"
In spite Of the sauguine prediction, when
night again closed in on the lonely hut Mr..
Fairburn found himself obliged once more
10 accept the shelter Of the lean to. and the
,csnty accommodation IL offered. Nor did
The return Of morning bring any sign Of sue
cor, Squire Carew and hts search parties
being, unfortunately, very busy dragging
peat.holes on the opposite side Of the moor.
But when the second day, too, began TO
draw toward It's close, and still no sign Of
the prisoners patience and his
hostess's soanty store Of provisions were
alike exhausted by the extraordinary de-
mands made upon them.
"Give mo out the denominations ~ Mr..
Fairburn at last exclaimed, In the tone OF q
man resolved 10 do or die. "Give me out the
I'd as soon be shot down
for runaway convict as spend another
such day as this Perhaps, as it's getting
toward cleaning, may have the luck to
reach a friendly shelter before the police
pounce upon me. IL not, must inst tell my
tale and trust to their having few grains
Of common sense in their heads"
Half an hour later tall figure in parti-
colored raiment might have been seen In the
twilight making rapid way along the little
track which led from widow Trownson's cot
tage down to A.
"Who goeJ there S--stand, or fre!"
"Thanks On the whole, think pre-
fer standing" Aud to the surprise Of the
mounted patrol, into whose hands he had
fallen, the suspicious locking pedestrian ad :.
vauced TO meet them with very different gait
from the slouoh acquired In prison yards.
Naturally they suspected ruse, and kept
him we'll covered with their rifles.
81 assure you," went on the stranger, ~
am quite rejoiced to meet you, for | was Just
beginning TO fear I had lost my way yet
once more on this delightful moor of yours.
Besides, am sure 70 fare better in the hands
Of intelligent officers like yourselves than II
any Of the yokels had chanced to catch sight
Of me first"
"That's very fine talk, my man, no
doubt" said the senior constable, grimly,
"but You don't catch old birds with chat, you
know; 80 we'll just trouble you to walk here
between us down to A, aud give account
Of yourself to Inspector Fox. l needn't
be such fool as to try them on with two
mounted and armed men beside you"
Fortunately for the captive, "the shades
Of night" were falling very fast when the
little procession entered the quiet country
town, and they reached the police station
almost uuobserved. Here they found the
inspector engaged in drawing up report,
but he rose hastily at the appearance Of the
patrol.
"Well done, Burtonl SO you've got the
fellow after all There have been far too
many Of these escapes In the fog lately; We
shall Just show those Princes Town people
tina. some other folks are wide awake, what
ever they may be themselves. I'm as glad"
The inspectors happy ohuckls stopped
suddenly as his eye fell on the prisoners g
handsome features and fair wavy hair, aud
he turned inquiringly to the constable.
E "I'm afraid, sir, that BLACK Jam has
given us the slip after all, and think
you'll say the same when y ,u've heard this
young gen'leman's tale, though ! didn't
give much heed to It myself till now that l
see him fairly under the gas light. He Ger.
tainly don't answer to the description, do
he, siri"
;'stand out, sirl" said the inspector
sharply, to Alack, for his disappointment
made him cross. Black hair'-0ust See II
that's wig, Burtop)-'dsrk eyes and com
plexion'-'six feet in height'-why, this
fellow isn't above five foot ten I"
The inspector threw down the printed
slip in disgust, and turned again to the
prisoner.
"Now, sir, perhaps you will be good
enough to tell me what you mean by mas
queradipg about the country in this fash
ion 2"
"WOuld'nt IL bs more to the point if ]
asked what your friend Black Jam meant
by going off with the new shooting suit
WOlmershausen had just built for me, ant
the gun gave five aud twenty pounds fo
last season. Look here, Mr.. Inspector,
suppose you can see pretty plainly I'm no
the man you want. Can't you let one o
your people fetch me some food before l be
gin my talef haven't had a square mea
these three days, and am pretty near fam
ished. Do, there's good fellow, and II
tell you the story in brief while they r
fetching It,"
Something in Aleck's good humorsd voic,
and face must havs sOftened the officia
heart Of Inspector Fox, for before long tn
wanderer was sitting down to an abundan
meal Of cold beef and its attendant pickles
while the chief Of the A. police de
spstched telegraphic account Of "Blaol
JAMS" escape to headquarters.
"But I'm afraid, sir, that you'll have I,
come before the justices tomorrow morning
Just as you are. You see we're bound Il
produce man as We find him; and you Y,
session of these clothes; what 1 believe o
don't believe goes for nothing, of course
The most can do is TO get the hearing al
ranged for the magistrates private room IN
stead of for the COURT
The prisoner sighed resignedly. "Well
what can't bs cured must be endured, evi
IDENTITY; and Pm only too glad to have &C
back to civilization once more on any terms
So must take laugh from your worth
| justices with the best grace can muster.
"Well, sir, 1t won't be a very long ont
that Is, II your story is true," added til
inspector, cautiously. "FOr all our jui
tices know Squire Carew we'll enough ,thoug
he sits on the Newton Bench, not our
And now, sir, I'll wish you good night
rest, for it's past IL O'Clock.
A Bond.street lounger wsaried in Vi
search for new sensation might, psrhap
have envied Mr.. Fairburn next mornin
when he found himself ushsred by Inspectt
Fox himself Into the presence Of the ha
dozen squires and rectors who formed tn
A. tribunal Of justice, but do not thin
any one else would have done SO.
He says himself that In spite of "Sartor
and its lessons, never till that day had
properly realized the moral importance Of
suit Of clothes. lie maintains that IL toe
all his courage to resist the impulse whic
prompted him to shuttle his feet and har
his head under the stern gaze Of six pai
Of msgistsrial eyes, and declares that eve
his his seemed to take TO themselves win
and fly away as lie told his plain, unva
nishsd tale.
Fortunately, the penance was not loi
one. Before the.story we'll over, a rosy ol
gentleman, Squire Norton by name, su,
denly interrupted II. "Why, bless II
soul then this must be tho young fello
Bob lIilliard was talking about at dim
last night He said Tom Carew and Il
father were both nearly out Of their wit
and dragging every peat hole for ten mil
round ="
"But why in the name Of wonder didn
they look for me on dry ground first! 7" 1
terposed the prisoner.
"Becauss some shepherd who has h
over on that side OF the moor told Ia
about having met man In gray, with a g.
on his shoulder, just before day light; soth
jumped to the conclusion that, dead or a'iv
you were bound to turn up somewhere
, | that direotion.n