the skull-cap had taken the lead hitherto, and he took it
still; though, from the manner in which he stared about him at corners
of streets, and involved himself and his companion every now and then in
blind alleys, it was clear enough that he was quite unfamiliar with
the part of the town through which they were now walking. Zack, having
treated himself that night to his fatal third glass of grog, and having
finished half of it before the fight began, was by this time in no
condition to care about following any particular path in the great
labyrinth of London. He walked on, talking thickly and incessantly to
the stranger, who never once answered him. It was of no use to applaud
his bravery; to criticize his style of fighting, which was anything but
scientific; to express astonishment at his skill in knocking his hat on
again, all through the struggle, every time it was knocked off; and to
declare admiration of his quickness in taking the cook's hat to cover
his companion's bare head, which might have exposed him to suspicion and
capture as he passed through the streets. It was of no use to speak on
these subjects, or on any others. The imperturbable hero who had not
uttered a word all through the fight, was as imperturbable as ever, and
would not utter a word after it.

They strayed at last into Fleet Street, and walked to the foot of
Ludgate Hill. Here the stranger stopped--glanced towards the open space
on the right, where the river ran--gave a rough gasp of relief and
satisfaction--and made directly for Blackfriars bridge. He led Zack,
who was still thick in his utterance, and unsteady on his legs, to the
parapet wall; let go of his arm there, and looking steadily in his face
by the light of the gas-lamp, addressed him, for the first time, in a
remarkably grave, deliberate voice, and in these words:

"Now, then, young 'un, suppose you pull a breath, and wipe that bloody
nose of yours."

Zack, instead of resenting this unceremonious manner of speaking to
him--which he might have done, had he been sober--burst into a frantic
fit of laughter. The remarkable gravity and composure of the stranger's
tone and manner, contrasted with the oddity of the proposition by which
he opened the conversation, would have been irresistibly ludicrous even
to a man whose faculties were not in an intoxicated condition.

While Zack was laughing till the tears rolled down his cheeks, his odd
companion was leaning over the parapet of the