m staggering away among them, and brought him to their vile
resort. Even his companions wondered at his reckless demeanour, and
expostulated with him on his extravagant wildness. He laughed them to
scorn and called for more drink. After a while they rose to depart,
leaving him where he was, noisy and helpless.

How long he remained so I cannot say, for suddenly and most unexpectedly
I found myself called upon to enter upon a new stage in my career.

As my master leaned back hopelessly tipsy in his seat, a hand quietly
and swiftly slipped under his coat and drew me from my pocket; as
swiftly the chain was detached from its button-hole, and the next thing
I was conscious of was being thrust into a strange pocket, belonging to
some one who was quitting the hall as fast as his legs would carry him.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

HOW I FOUND MYSELF IN VERY LOW COMPANY.

My capturer was a boy, and as remarkable a specimen of a boy as it has
ever been my lot to meet during the whole of my career. His age was,
say, fourteen. He stood four feet one in his slipshod boots.

The hat which adorned his head was an old white billycock, which in its
palmy days might have adorned noble brows, so fashionable were its
pretensions. Now, alas! it had one side caved in, and the other was
green with wear and weather. The coat which arrayed his manly form was
evidently one not made recently or to wearer's measure, for besides
showing cracks and rents in various parts, its tails were so
extravagantly long for its small occupant that they literally almost
touched the ground. His nether garments, on the other hand, although
they resembled the coat in their conveniences for ventilation, being all
in rags and tatters, appeared to have been borrowed from a smaller pair
of legs even than those owned by my present possessor, for they--at
least one leg--barely reached half way below the knee, while the other
stopped short very little lower. Altogether, the boy was as nondescript
and "scarecrowy" an object as one could well expect to meet with.

As he left the hall he gave a quick look round to assure himself no one
was following him; then he darted across the road and proceeded to
shuffle forward in so extremely leisurely and casual a way, that very
few of the people who met him would have imagined he carried a stolen
watch in his pocket.

Such a hole as it was! As soon as I had sufficiently recovered from my
astonishment to look about me, I