“Like enough,” the tipstaff said, “he may have run through his money the first night or two after coming up to town.  That is the way with these fellows.  As long as they have money they gamble.  When they have none, they cheat or turn to other evil courses.  Now that there are two of you together, there is less danger in going to such places; for, though these rascals may be ready to pick a quarrel with a single man, they know that it is a dangerous game to play with two, who look perfectly capable of defending themselves.”

For a month, they frequented low taverns.  They dressed themselves plainly now, and assumed the character of young fellows who had come up to town, and had fallen into bad company, and lost what little money they had brought with them, and were now ready for any desperate enterprise.  Still, no success attended their search.

“I can do no more for you,” their guide said.  “I have taken you to every house that such a man would be likely to use.  Of course, there are many houses near the river frequented by bad characters.  But here you would chiefly meet men connected, in some way, with the sea, and you would be hardly likely to find your man there.”

“We shall keep on searching,” Charlie said.  “He may have gone out of town for some reason, and may return any day.  We shall not give it up till spring.”

“Well, at any rate, sirs, I will take your money no longer.  You know your way thoroughly about now, and, if at any time you should want me, you know where to find me.  It might be worth your while to pay a visit to Islington, or even to go as far as Barnet.  The fellow may have done something, and may think it safer to keep in hiding, and in that case Islington and Barnet are as likely to suit him as anywhere.”

The young men had, some time before, left the inn and taken a lodging.  This they found much cheaper, and, as they were away from breakfast until midnight, it mattered little where they slept.  They took the advice of their guide, stayed a couple of nights at Islington, and then went to Barnet.  In these places there was no occasion to visit the taverns, as, being comparatively small, they would, either in the daytime or after dark, have an opportunity of meeting most of those living there.

Finding the search ineffectual, Charlie proposed that they should go for a long walk along the north road.

“I am tired of staring every man I meet in the face, Harry.  And I should like, for once, to be able to throw it all off and take a good walk together, as we used to do in the old days.  We will go eight or ten miles out, stop at some wayside inn for refreshments, and then come back here for the night, and start back again for town tomorrow.”

Harry at once agreed, and, taking their hats, they started.

They did not hurry themselves, and, carefully avoiding all mention of the subject that had occupied their thoughts for weeks, they chatted over their last campaign, their friends in the Swedish camp, and the course that affairs were likely to take.  After four hours’ walking they came to a small wayside inn, standing back twenty or thirty yards from the road.