‘W’y, sir, you say the word, and of course I’ll do it!’ he cried.  ’"Nothink by ’alves,” is my motto!  I’m your man, through thick and thin, live or die, I am!’

In the meantime there was nothing to be done till towards sunset.  My only chance now was to come again as quickly as possible to speech of Flora, who was my only practicable banker; and not before evening was it worth while to think of that.  I might compose myself as well as I was able over the Caledonian Mercury, with its ill news of the campaign of France and belated documents about the retreat from Russia; and, as I sat there by the fire, I was sometimes all awake with anger and mortification at what I was reading, and sometimes again I would be three parts asleep as I dozed over the barren items of home intelligence.  ’Lately arrived’—­this is what I suddenly stumbled on—­’at Dumbreck’s Hotel, the Viscount of Saint-Yves.’

‘Rowley,’ said I.

‘If you please, Mr. Anne, sir,’ answered the obsequious, lowering his pipe.

‘Come and look at this, my boy,’ said I, holding out the paper.

‘My crikey!’ said he.  ’That’s ‘im, sir, sure enough!’

‘Sure enough, Rowley,’ said I.  ’He’s on the trail.  He has fairly caught up with us.  He and this Bow Street man have come together, I would swear.  And now here is the whole field, quarry, hounds and hunters, all together in this city of Edinburgh.’

‘And wot are you goin’ to do now, sir?  Tell you wot, let me take it in ’and, please!  Gimme a minute, and I’ll disguise myself, and go out to this Dum—­to this hotel, leastways, sir—­and see wot he’s up to.  You put your trust in me, Mr. Anne:  I’m fly, don’t you make no mistake about it.  I’m all a-growing and a-blowing, I am.’

‘Not one foot of you,’ said I.  ’You are a prisoner, Rowley, and make up your mind to that.  So am I, or next door to it.  I showed it you for a caution; if you go on the streets, it spells death to me, Rowley.’

‘If you please, sir,’ says Rowley.

‘Come to think of it,’ I continued, ’you must take a cold, or something.  No good of awakening Mrs. McRankine’s suspicions.’

‘A cold?’ he cried, recovering immediately from his depression.  ’I can do it, Mr. Anne.’

And he proceeded to sneeze and cough and blow his nose, till I could not restrain myself from smiling.

‘Oh, I tell you, I know a lot of them dodges,’ he observed proudly.

‘Well, they come in very handy,’ said I.

’I’d better go at once and show it to the old gal, ‘adn’t I?’ he asked.

I told him, by all means; and he was gone upon the instant, gleeful as though to a game of football.

I took up the paper and read carelessly on, my thoughts engaged with my immediate danger, till I struck on the next paragraph:-