t. Then he imparted his design concerning Dolly to Miss
Miggs, who was taken more deaf than before, when he began; and so
remained, all through.

The notable scheme was this. Mr Dennis was immediately to seek out from
among the rioters, some daring young fellow (and he had one in his eye,
he said), who, terrified by the threats he could hold out to him, and
alarmed by the capture of so many who were no better and no worse than
he, would gladly avail himself of any help to get abroad, and out of
harm's way, with his plunder, even though his journey were incumbered
by an unwilling companion; indeed, the unwilling companion being
a beautiful girl, would probably be an additional inducement and
temptation. Such a person found, he proposed to bring him there on
the ensuing night, when the tall one was taken off, and Miss Miggs had
purposely retired; and then that Dolly should be gagged, muffled in a
cloak, and carried in any handy conveyance down to the river's side;
where there were abundant means of getting her smuggled snugly off in
any small craft of doubtful character, and no questions asked. With
regard to the expense of this removal, he would say, at a rough
calculation, that two or three silver tea or coffee-pots, with something
additional for drink (such as a muffineer, or toast-rack), would more
than cover it. Articles of plate of every kind having been buried by the
rioters in several lonely parts of London, and particularly, as he
knew, in St James's Square, which, though easy of access, was little
frequented after dark, and had a convenient piece of water in the midst,
the needful funds were close at hand, and could be had upon the shortest
notice. With regard to Dolly, the gentleman would exercise his own
discretion. He would be bound to do nothing but to take her away,
and keep her away. All other arrangements and dispositions would rest
entirely with himself.

If Miss Miggs had had her hearing, no doubt she would have been greatly
shocked by the indelicacy of a young female's going away with a stranger
by night (for her moral feelings, as we have said, were of the tenderest
kind); but directly Mr Dennis ceased to speak, she reminded him that he
had only wasted breath. She then went on to say (still with her fingers
in her ears) that nothing less than a severe practical lesson would save
the locksmith's daughter from utter ruin; and that she felt it, as it
were, a moral obligation and a sacred duty to the fam