of advice, and quit that part of the country. But Billy had no idea of
letting him off thus. He now became the pursuer. However fast the
gypsy ran, the sailor-lad kept up with him. If the man halted, as he
frequently did in a breathless condition, and tried to gain over his
adversary, Billy also stopped, said he was in no hurry, thrust his hands
into his jacket pockets, and began to whistle. Thus he kept him in view
until they once more stood in the pass. Here the man sat down on a
large stone, thoroughly exhausted. The boy sat down on another stone
opposite to him, looking quite fresh and jolly. Five years of hearty
devotion to a noble calling had prepared the muscles of the little
sailor for that day's exercise. The same number of years spent in
debauchery and crime had _not_ prepared the vagabond giant for that
day's work.

"What has brought you back?" said Growler, savagely.

"To see the old granny whom you stole me from," replied the boy. "Also,
to have the satisfaction of puttin' you in limbo; although I did not
expect to have this pleasure."

"Ha! ha!" laughed Growler, sarcastically, "you'll fail in both. It's
not so easy to put me in limbo as you think--and your grandmother is
dyin'."

"That's false!" cried Billy, springing half way across the road and
shaking his little fist at his enemy--"you know it is. The landlord of
the `Blue Boar' told me he saw her at church strong and well last
Sunday."

"She's dyin', however, may be _dead_," said the man, with a sneer so
full of triumph, that it struck a chill to the heart of the poor boy.

Just at that moment, Jacky Sudberry turned slowly round a sharp angle of
the road, and stood there transfixed, with his eyes like two saucers,
and his mouth as round as an o.

The sight of this intruder distracted Billy's attention for a moment.
Growler at once bounded over the low wall and dived into the underwood.
Billy hesitated to follow him, for the last piece of information weighed
heavily on his mind. That moment's hesitation was sufficient for the
gypsy to make good his retreat. Although Billy leaped the wall the next
moment, and darted hither and thither through the copse, he failed to
catch sight of him again, and finally returned to the road, where he
found Jacky seated on a stone, pondering in a state of bewilderment on
what he had seen.

"Well, my boy, how goes it?" cried the sailor heartily, as he came
forward, wiping his heated brow with a blu