lsford's house. It vanished almost immediately, but not
before the master had caught a faintly uttered "Hist!" which betrayed
that he had to deal with more than one truant. He quickened his pace a
little, and came once more in view of the phantom slinking along by the
wall at a pace which was not quite a run. Rather to Mr Bickers's
surprise the fugitive passed the door of Railsford's, and made straight
on towards the chapel, slackening pace as he did so.

"A decoy," said the knowing master to himself. "Employed to draw me on
while the rest make good their retreat. There is a touch of generosity
in the decoy which one is bound to admire; but on this occasion, my
young friend, you are dealing with rather too aged a bird to be
caught--"

At this moment he had come up to the door of Railsford's, and before his
soliloquy had been able to advance by another word he seemed to see
sparks before his eyes, while at the same moment his feet went from
under him, and something was drawn over his head. The bag, or whatever
it was, was capacious; for the neck of it descended to his waist, and
closed by the magic of a slip-knot round his mouth and elbows before he
had the presence of mind to shout or throw out his arms. To complete
his misfortune, as he tried to raise himself, another noose was snugly
cast around his feet, and thus gagged and pinioned, silently, rapidly,
and dexterously, Mr Bickers found himself in a situation in which, he
could positively aver, he had never stood--or lain--before.

The thought did flash through his sack-enveloped head, that his
assailants, whoever they were, must have rehearsed this little comedy
carefully and diligently for a day or two, in order to arrive at the
perfection displayed in the present performance. He also made a mental
calculation that three, possibly four, fellow-beings were engaged on the
job, of whom two were strong, and two were small; one of the latter
possibly being the decoy whom he had so lately apostrophised.

Not a syllable was uttered during the ceremony; and the victim
recognising his position, had the good sense to remain cool and not
waste his time and dignity in a fruitless struggle.

The pinioning being complete, and a small hole being considerately
opened in the sack in the region of the nose for purposes of
respiration, he was hauled up one or two steps, dragged one or two feet,
deposited on the board floor of the shoe-cupboard, and, after a few mild
and i