ed up."

Tipps hereupon went into a detailed account of the matter as far as he
knew it, at first to the surprise and then to the amusement of Captain
Lee. Fortunately for Gurwood, who would have found it difficult to
explain the circumstance of his travelling without a ticket, the captain
was as prompt to acknowledge his erroneous impression as he had been to
condemn. Instead of listening to Tipps, he stopped him by suddenly
grasping Gurwood's hand, and thanking him heartily for the prompt and
able assistance he had rendered in rescuing his daughter from her
perilous position on the day of the accident.

Of course Edwin would not admit that "rescue" was the proper term to
apply to his action, and refused to admit that Miss Lee was in the
slightest degree indebted to him, at the same time assuring her and her
father that it had afforded him the highest possible pleasure to have
been of the slightest service to them. The end of it was that they all
became extremely good friends, and the captain in particular became
quite jocular in reference to mistakes in general and stealing in
particular, until Tipps, pulling out his watch, declared that
procrastination was the thief of time, and that as he happened to have
business to transact with the police superintendent in reference to the
very accident which had caused them all so much trouble, he must
unwillingly bid them adieu.

"Stay, Tipps," exclaimed the captain, rising, "I shall accompany you to
the station, and introduce our friend Gurwood to the scene of his future
labours, where," continued the captain, turning with a hearty air and
patronising smile to Edwin, "I hope you will lay the foundation of a
career which will end in a manager's or secretary's situation, or some
important post of that sort. Good-bye, Emma I'll not be back till
dinner-time."

Emma bowed to the young men, and said good-bye to her father with a
smile so ineffably captivating, that Edwin resolved then and there to
lay the foundation of a career which would end in a wife with nut-brown
hair and large lustrous eyes.

Poor Edwin! He was not the first man whose wayward spirit had been
chained, his impulses directed to good ends and aims, and his destiny
fixed, by the smile of an innocent, loving, pretty girl. Assuredly,
also, he was not the last!

CHAPTER TEN.

SHARP PRACTICE.

Standing with his back to the fireplace, his legs slightly apart, his
hands in his pockets, and his eyes f