on landing or of being
speedily hunted down as an escaped convict. I don't think that there is
the slightest occasion for us to trouble ourselves about him."

But though the Squire spoke so confidently, he felt by no means sure
that Arthur Bastow would not turn up again, for his reckless audacity
had made a great impression upon him. The proceeds of the robberies in
the colony, in which he had no doubt played a part, would have furnished
him with money with which he could bribe a sailor to hide him away
and, if necessary, pay his passage money to England, when discovered
on board, and perhaps maintain him when he got home until he could
replenish his purse by some unlawful means. Lastly, the Squire argued
that the fellow's vindictive nature and longing for revenge would act as
an incentive to bring him back to London. He talked the matter over with
Mark, who was now a powerful young fellow of twenty, who, of course,
remembered the incidents attending Bastow's capture and trial.

"I cannot help fancying that the fellow will come back, Mark."

"Well, if he does, father, we must make it our business to lay him by
the heels again. You managed it last time, and if he should turn up you
may be sure I will help you to do it again."

"Yes, but we may not hear of his having returned until he strikes a
blow. At any rate, see that your pistols are loaded and close at hand at
night."

"They always are, father. There is no saying when a house like this,
standing alone, and containing a good deal of plate and valuables, may
be broken into."

"Well, you might as well carry them always when you go out after dark.
I shall speak to Knapp, and request him to let me know if he hears of a
suspicious looking character--any stranger, in fact--being noticed in
or about the village, and I shall have a talk with Simeox, the head
constable at Reigate, and ask him to do the same. He is not the same
man who was head at the time Bastow was up before us, but he was in
the force then, and, as one of the constables who came up to take the
prisoners down to Reigate, he will have all the facts in his mind. He is
a sharp fellow, and though Bastow has no doubt changed a good deal since
then, he would hardly fail to recognize him if his eye fell upon him. Of
course we may be alarming ourselves unnecessarily, but there are several
reasons why I should object strongly to be shot just at the present
time."

"Or at any other time, I should say, father,