“Well, Tony, I suppose all has gone well, as we have not heard from you.”

“There was nothing to tell you, sir, and, indeed, I have been mightily busy.  In the first place, I got two days’ leave from the courts, and went down myself, in a light cart, with the boys and two men.  That way I made sure that there should be no mistake as to the houses the boys were to watch.  The two men I sent on, ten miles beyond the farthest tavern there to watch the road, and if any horseman goes by tonight, to track him down.

“This evening I came here.  I brought with me one of my comrades from the courts, and we told the good woman the character of the lodger we had seen leave the house a quarter of an hour before.  She almost fainted when we showed her our badges, and said we must arrest him, on his return, as a notorious highwayman and breaker of the laws.  She exclaimed that her house would be ruined, and it took some time to pacify her, by saying that we would manage the job so quietly that no one in the house need know of it, and that we would, if possible, arrange it so that the place of his arrest should not be made public.

“At that, she at once consented to do all that we wished her.  We searched his room carefully, and found some watches, rings, and other matters, that answered to the description of those stolen from a coach that was stopped near Dorking, three weeks ago.  My mate has taken them away.  As she was afraid that a scuffle in the bedroom might attract the attention of the four other gentlemen who are lodging here, I arranged that it should be done at the door.  In that case, if there was any inquiry in the morning, she could say that it was some drunken fellow, who had come to the house by mistake, and had tried to force his way in.

“So she put this parlour at our disposal, and, as I have got the shutters up and the curtains drawn, there is no fear of his noticing the light, for, as we may have some hours to wait, it is more pleasant to have a candle, than to sit in the dark.”

“Does she come down to let him in?” Harry asked.

“No, sir, the door is left on the latch.  She says he finds his way up to his room, in the dark, and the candle and a tinderbox are always placed handy for him there.  We will take our shoes off presently, and, when we hear footsteps come up to the door and stop, we will blow out the candle and steal out into the passage, so as to catch him directly he closes the door.  I have got handcuffs here, some rope, and a gag.”

“Very well, then.  I will undertake the actual seizing of him,” Charlie said.  “You slip on the handcuffs, and you, Harry, if you can find his throat in the dark, grip it pretty tightly, till Tony can slip the gag into his mouth.  Then he can light the candle again, and we can then disarm and search him, fasten his legs, and get him ready to put in the cart.”

The hours passed slowly, although Tony did his best to divert them, by telling stories of various arrests and captures in which he had been concerned.  The clock had just struck five, when they heard a step coming up the quiet street.