" the young man said with a
laugh.

"I shall know him, Squire, safe enough," the head constable replied when
John Thorndyke went down to see him on the following day; "but I should
think that if he does come back to England he will hardly be fool enough
to come down here. He was pretty well known in town before that affair,
and everyone who was in the courthouse would be sure to have his face
strongly impressed upon their minds. You may forget a man you have seen
casually, but you don't forget one you have watched closely when he is
in the dock with two others charged with murder. Five out of my six men
were constables at that time, and would know him again the minute they
saw him; but anyhow, I will tell them to keep a sharp lookout in the
tramps' quarters, and especially over the two or three men still here
that Bastow used to consort with. I should say that Reigate is the last
place in the world where he would show his face."

"I hope so," the Squire said. "He has caused trouble enough down here as
it is; his father is getting an old man now, and is by no means strong,
and fresh troubles of that kind would undoubtedly kill him."

A month later the Reigate coach was stopped when a short distance out
of the town by two highwaymen, and a considerable prize obtained by the
robbers. Soon afterwards came news of private carriages being stopped on
various commons in the South of London, and of several burglaries taking
place among the houses round Clapham, Wandsworth, and Putney. Such
events were by no means uncommon, but following each other in such quick
succession they created a strong feeling of alarm among the inhabitants
of the neighborhood. John Thorndyke, going up to town shortly
afterwards, went to the headquarters of the Bow Street runners, and had
a talk with their chief in reference especially to the stoppage of the
Reigate coach. Mr. Chetwynd had lately died, and John Thorndyke had been
unanimously elected by his fellow magistrates as chairman of the bench.

"No, Mr. Thorndyke, we have no clew whatever. Our men have been keeping
the sharpest watch over the fellows suspected of having a hand in such
matters, but they all seem keeping pretty quiet at present, and none of
them seem to be particularly flush with money. It is the same with these
burglaries in the South of London. We are at our wits' end about them.
We are flooded with letters of complaint from residents; but though the
patrols on the common have