m safe enough, for there was no
dropping out of the windows at that height; so we sent the sergeant to
get a locksmith to pick the lock or force the door, while we kept on
ringing the bell.

"About three minutes after the sergeant left, I happened to look out of
the landing window and saw a hansom pull up opposite the flats. I put my
head out of the window, and, hang me if I didn't see our two friends
getting into the cab. It seems that there was a small lift inside the
flat communicating with the kitchen, and they had slipped down it one at
a time.

"Well, of course, we raced down the stairs like acrobats, but by the
time we got to the bottom the cab was off with a fine start. We ran out
into Victoria Street, and there we could see it half-way down the street
and going like a chariot race. We managed to pick up another hansom and
told the cabby to keep the other one in sight, and away we went like the
very deuce; along Victoria Street and Broad Sanctuary, across Parliament
Square, over Westminster Bridge and along York Road; we kept the other
beggar in sight, but we couldn't gain an inch on him. Then we turned
into Waterloo Station, and, as we were driving up the slope we met
another hansom coming down; and when the cabby kissed his hand and
smiled at us, we guessed that he was the sportsman we had been
following.

"But there was no time to ask questions. It is an awkward station with a
lot of different exits, and it looked a good deal as if our quarry had
got away. However, I took a chance. I remembered that the Southampton
express was due to start about this time, and I took a short cut across
the lines and made for the platform that it starts from. Just as Badger
and I got to the end, about thirty yards from the rear of the train, we
saw a man and a woman running in front of us. Then the guard blew his
whistle and the train began to move. The man and the woman managed to
scramble into one of the rear compartments and Badger and I raced up the
platform like mad. A porter tried to head us off, but Badger capsized
him and we both sprinted harder than ever, and just hopped on the
foot-board of the guard's van as the train began to get up speed. The
guard couldn't risk putting us off, so he had to let us into his van,
which suited us exactly, as we could watch the train on both sides from
the look-out. And we did watch, I can tell you; for our friend in front
had seen us. His head was out of the window as we climbed o