gh; the wind blew in gusts, and the moon had not yet risen,
and the plastramengro waited behind a tree till he was tired, and thought
he might as well sit down; so he sat down and was not long in falling to
sleep, and there he slept for some hours; and when he awoke, the moon had
risen, and was shining bright, so that there was a kind of moonlight even
in the dark lane; and the plastramengro pulled out his watch, and
contrived to make out that it was just two hours beyond the time when the
men should have passed by. Brother, I do not know what the plastramengro
thought of himself, but I know, brother, what I should have thought of
myself in his situation. I should have thought, brother, that I was a
drowsy scoppelo, and that I had let the fellow pass by whilst I was
sleeping behind a bush. As it turned out, however, his going to sleep
did no harm, but quite the contrary; just as he was going away, he heard
a gate slam in the direction of the fields, and then he heard the low
stumping of horses, as if on soft ground, for the path in those fields is
generally soft, and at that time it had been lately ploughed up. Well,
brother, presently he saw two men on horseback coming towards the lane
through the field behind the gate; the man who rode foremost was a tall,
big fellow, the very man he was in quest of: the other was a smaller
chap, not so small either, but a light, wiry fellow, and a proper master
of his hands when he sees occasion for using them. Well, brother, the
foremost man came to the gate, reached at the hank, undid it, and rode
through, holding it open for the other. Before, however, the other could
follow into the lane, out bolted the plastramengro from behind the tree,
kicked the gate too with his foot, and, seizing the big man on horseback,
'You are my prisoner,' said he. I am of opinion, brother, that the
plastramengro, notwithstanding he went to sleep, must have been a regular
fine fellow."

"I am entirely of your opinion," said I; "but what happened then?"

"Why, brother, the Rommany chal, after he had somewhat recovered from his
surprise, for it is rather uncomfortable to be laid hold of at
night-time, and told you are a prisoner; more especially when you happen
to have two or three things on your mind, which, if proved against you,
would carry you to the nashky. The Rommany chal, I say, clubbed his
whip, and aimed a blow at the plastramengro, which, if it had hit him on
the skull, as was intended